Social Democrats Eoin HayesRollingNews

Hayes released a statement on social media to pre-emptively inform the public of photos of him in makeup that are set to be published on Wednesday.

The politician explained that he dressed up like Obama for a Halloween party in 2009 and didn’t understand "how hurtful it was at the time".

Hayes said he was President of the Students’ Union in UCC at the time of the party.

He stated: "At a Halloween party 16 years ago, while President of the Students’ Union in University College Cork, I dressed up as someone I greatly admired at the time, US President Barack Obama – whose re-election campaign I went on to work for in 2012.

"As part of this costume, I wore brown makeup on my face and hands.

"I have been told that a news outlet has photographs of this event, which they will publish tomorrow.

 "While I didn’t have an understanding of how hurtful this was at the time, I came to recognise that in the intervening years and I am so profoundly sorry.

"What I did was completely inappropriate and a huge mistake.

"I condemn racism in all of its forms and do not condone that behaviour under any circumstances.

"I take full responsibility for my actions and from the bottom of my heart, I apologise for any and all hurt caused by what I did and the images of that night."

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Hayes was only readmitted to the Social Democrats in July of this year, following a near eight-month suspension due to revelations that he provided incorrect information to the media about the sale of shares in his former employer Palantir Technologies.

Palantir has a number of IT contracts with Israel and US military.

On December 11, a day after the revelations emerged, Hayes said that he sold his shares in software company Palantir for just under €200,000, one month after he was elected to Dublin City Council.

When he was readmitted to the party, Social Democrats’ deputy leader Cian O’Callaghan said he believed Hayes "should be given a second chance".

He said: "Eoin has been suspended from the parliamentary party for nearly eight months and I believe he should be given a second chance.

"Eoin has a lot to offer as a Social Democrats TD and I look forward to working with him.’

At the time, Hayes stated: "At the outset, I want to give a full and unequivocal apology for giving the incorrect information to the media about when I divested from Palantir.

"I also want to be clear that I should not have held the shares for as long as I did.

"For that reason, I have donated $51,000 to three humanitarian organisations active in Gaza – split between UNRWA, UNICEF and Doctors Without Borders.

"This figure represents the uplift in share price, less applicable taxes, from October 7, 2023, to July 26, 2024, when I sold the shares.

"I know I have let people down and I am determined to work hard and earn back people’s trust."

* This article was originally published on Extra.ie.