Social Democrats TD Eoin Hayes has issued an apology for wearing brown make-up on his face and hands while dressed up as former US president Barack Obama for a Halloween party.
The incident took place while Mr Hayes was president of the Students’ Union in University College Cork some 16 years ago.
In a statement on X on Monday evening, Mr Hayes said: “While I didn’t have an understanding of how hurtful it 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 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.”
He said he went on to work for the Obama re-election campaign in 2012, and described the former president as someone he “greatly admired at the time” of the incident.
Social Democrats TD Eoin Hayes dressed up as former US president Barack Obama, wearing brown make-up, for a Halloween party 16 years ago
The Dublin Bay South TD said in his statement he had been told a news outlet intended to publish photographs of him in costume on Tuesday.
A Social Democrats spokesperson said on Monday evening: “The Social Democrats abhor all forms of racism. Deputy Hayes has acknowledged that what he did was wrong, offensive and hurtful. He has taken full responsibility for his actions and issued an unreserved apology.”
Party leader Holly Cairns is due to speak to the media in Dublin at the party’s annual think-in on Tuesday morning.
Mr Hayes was suspended from the Social Democrats parliamentary party last December after it emerged he had issued misleading information about when he sold the shares in Palantir, a company linked to the Israeli military.
Mr Hayes was readmitted to the Social Democrats parliamentary party over the summer, when the Dáil was not sitting, in a move which caused a degree of backlash internally but which ultimately resulted in no high-profile departures from its elected representatives or staff.
Mr Hayes previously said he should not have held the Palantir shares as long as he did and has donated the equivalent of €43,443 to three aid organisations working in Gaza.
He said the amount reflected the increase in the value of the shares he held over the course of Israel’s military offensive in Gaza.
The Social Democrats won 11 seats in November’s election but Mr Hayes was indefinitely suspended from the parliamentary party in December – just a month after being elected.
He had initially told the media and his party colleagues that he divested shares in his former employer, Palantir Technologies, prior to being elected to Dublin City Council in June 2024. The company supplies technology to Israel’s military.
He later revealed he sold the shares in July 2024 – after taking office – for a pre-tax figure of €199,000.
The Social Democrats had been calling for economic sanctions against Israel months before Mr Hayes’s election to the council.
His suspension was reviewed by the national executive of the party before being considered further by the parliamentary party and lifted in July. – Additional reporting PA