Social Democrats HQ evacuated after suspicious package addressed to Eoin Hayes arrived
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The head office of the Social Democrats has been evacuated after a suspicious package addressed to suspended TD Eoin Hayes arrived earlier today.
Party sources said that staff within the headquarters became suspicious of the package, with the office never having received a package addressed to Mr Hayes.
After contacting Mr Hayes, he informed staff that he had not ordered anything to the office.
The Defence Forces Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) unit attended the scene, putting a cordon in place. A Garda spokesperson has since said that the "alert was not found to be credible" adding that investigations into the incident are ongoing.
It is understood that four staff members were removed from the building while a number of other buildings in the vicinity were also evacuated.
The address of the Social Democrats head office is on Frederick Street, which is just metres away from Leinster House.
Following the evacuation, the package was taken away by the EOD team. In the hours since its discovery, Frederick Street has been reopened to the public.
One source said that while all four staff were safe, they were a “little bit rattled” by the incident.
Mr Hayes was suspended from the Social Democrats earlier this week, arising from controversy to do with his former shareholding in US company Palantir.
Earlier this week he admitted lying about when he sold shares in the company that has been providing the Israel Defence Forces with artificial intelligence tools.
At a press conference on Tuesday morning, Mr Hayes repeatedly told the media that he had sold his shares in software company Palantir before he entered politics.
Later that afternoon, the newly elected TD for Dublin Bay South said that the shares he held in Palantir were not sold until July 2024, one month after he was elected as a local councillor.
Mr Hayes clarified that held 7,000 shares in Palantir and sold them for a pre-tax figure of €199,000.
He was later suspended by the Social Democrats. Mr Hayes said that he would take his seat in the Dáil next week as an independent but hoped to regain the trust of the Social Democrats.
Meanwhile, Aontú is to carry out an investigation into one of its general election candidates, James Morris, over a post about the bomb threat.
In a now-deleted post on X, Mr Morris said he hoped the package was Mr Hayes’ “dividend cheque from Palantir”.
In a statement, an Aontú spokesperson described the tweet by Mr Morris as “disgraceful”.
“It is not acceptable. James has apologised for it. We will carry out an investigation into this tweet within the party which may result in disciplinary action,” the spokesperson said.
"Nobody in public life should be subjected to threats, abuse or harassment. Aontu utterly condemns the threat against the Social Democrats and we find such threats abhorrent"