Political parties, which can feel more like a family set up at inception, often follow the same trajectory.

Start-ups do not require the strict processes and procedures of large organisations because they are founded on personal relationships that do not need explanation or background checks.

However, as the business builds, these social systems become more complicated, the nimbleness of a small-scale industry no longer applies and more rigid standards must be applied to ensure quality control.

It’s a trade-off between maintaining some of the flexibility that allowed the budding business to flourish and ensuring that the idea works across a much larger blueprint.

The start-up to scale-up phase is therefore utterly daunting

Harvard Business School senior lecturer Jeffrey Rayport suggests that, traditionally, there have effectively been two stages in the development and evolution of any business enterprise.

“Stage one is famously the period of exploration, roughly coincident with this idea of searching for some sort of market demand or market traction," he said.

“The second stage was that ventures and corporations move into the stage called exploitation, and it’s a very very elegant model and, intuitively, it makes sense. You look for opportunity and, when you find opportunity, you look to exploit it for all its potential economic value.”

Ideologically driven political parties may strongly disagree with a model based on feeding the consumer what you think they want, but the same underlying mechanics are at play — if your policy goals and priorities align with and appeal to voters, you will achieve political success.

How Rayport has stressed that there have been “significant meltdowns” in the scaling phase, especially in the highly lucrative tech space, as newly formed companies “cannot keep up with the demand that they generated”.

“A lot of companies can be very successful on the road to product market fit, but the wheels come off the bus in some way during the scaling phase,” he told a Harvard Business Review podcast.

“We have seen ventures fall apart on a human level, meaning on the level of organisations not having a sufficiently coherent culture in order to assure that, as they go from 50 to 500 to 5,000 people, that people are on a mission and the efforts are aligned.”

Having gone from 16 local council seats to 35 in June’s elections, the Social Democrats had entered the scale-up phase even before the party won 11 Dáil seats in November’s election — an increase of five TDs.

Holly Cairns now leads a party which is no longer a cottage industry. The Eoin Hayes controversy, which has engulfed the party, reveals that the Social Democrats perhaps have not yet figured out the new protocols that must be adhered to now that it has reached a new political level.

During 20 minutes of squirm-inducing questioning from the media this week, Mr Hayes repeatedly provided vague answers on the timing of when he divested shares he had in Palantir — a US software company which supplies technology to the Israeli military.

He had “divested entirely” his shares “in the last 12 months” and “made all the declarations”. Under pressure, he did reveal that he had divested the shares before entering politics, but did not further clarify.

Deputy leader Cian O’Callaghan stood in full support of his colleague.

“Eoin has been very clear,” a statement that prompted laughter from the assembled media, “we have all been very clear that we support the people of Gaza”.

“Eoin has said that he has divested in those shares. Eoin has answered your questions, he has given answers to your questions.”

There were questions as to why Craig Hughes of the Daily Mail, who broke the story, was diving so deep into an issue which the party felt had been dealt with.

Within hours, a statement was shared, clarifying that Hayes had in fact sold his 7,000 shares, worth €199,000 in July after he was first elected in the local elections.

“Earlier today, during a press conference, I stated I sold the shares before I entered politics. This was not true. It was a month after I was first elected," the statement said.

Another statement shortly followed, confirming that Hayes had been suspended from the party. 

A fresh approach

Social Democrats members have prided themselves on taking a fresh approach to politics, focusing on issues such as Gaza, mother and baby homes, and people with disabilities, areas that are not always seen as political priorities.

It has to be acknowledged that the honesty and speed at which the statements were issued, after what can only be described as a car-crash media engagement, was in stark contrast to the controversy that Fine Gael found itself embroiled in mid-election campaign when footage of John McGahon emerged. The Louth candidate went to ground, which kept his behaviour on the agenda at press conferences.

However, this is a debacle that could have been completely avoided

What appears to be a lack of basic background checks in relation to Hayes will ultimately damage the party’s credibility when it comes to the relentless campaigning on Palestine and the Occupied Territories Bill — which Holly Cairns and her party have been so vocal on in the Dáil.

On the rise, political parties can be overwhelmed by a swell in support and the extra administration and manpower that it takes to meet this demand.

The rush to fill tickets with candidates to ensure a party satisfies a new-found hunger among the electorate was seen in 2020 when Sinn Féin hastily added names across the country.

The likes of Réada Cronin and Sorca Clarke were elected to the Dáil less than a year after they lost their council seats in what had been dismal local elections for the party. Patricia Ryan famously went abroad on holiday during the 2020 general election campaign and was still elected in Kildare South.

Likewise in 2019, as the Green wave rolled in, some candidates had been openly surprised in count centres as the ballots indicated that they would be taking a local authority seat.

However, an increase in numbers demands that parties ensure that all members are aware of what is expected of them.

Journalists are also obliged to question those in opposition who often sell themselves to the electorate as the only force pushing back against Government.

Politicians cannot fervently hold other political parties and members of Government to account without applying that same level of accountability to themselves.

It’s a lesson the Social Democrats have learned the hard way.