Holly Cairns’ return from maternity leave to retake the helm of the Social Democrats should have been easier than it turned out to be.
The Social Democrats have been leading Labour in the polls and it stole a march on the other centre-left party by backing Galway West Independent TD Catherine Connolly to run for president two weeks before its arch rivals.
While Ms Connolly’s campaign – and the parties supporting her – have faced tricky questions over issues such as her 2018 trip to Syria, the Social Democrats can claim with some justification to be at the forefront of efforts to unite the left behind one candidate.
Meanwhile, the Social Democrats probably believed it had put controversy over Dublin Bay South TD Eoin Hayes to bed during the summer.
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Mr Hayes was suspended from the parliamentary party last December after it emerged he had issued misleading information about when he sold shares in Palantir, a company linked to the Israeli military.
Mr Hayes has since donated more than €43,000 to aid organisations working in Gaza.
He was readmitted to the parliamentary party at the end of July. That move caused a degree of backlash internally, but ultimately resulted in no high-profile departures from its ranks of elected representatives.
The Social Democrats’ think-in meeting in Dublin on Tuesday was Ms Cairns’ first day back after maternity leave. Having given birth to her daughter on polling day, she spoke about how it was “incredible” to see the results come in from hospital and her party doubling in size. The Social Democrats won 11 seats in the general election.
She highlighted the party’s priorities of disability, housing, Gaza, healthcare and childcare, adding that it would be “dogged in holding this Government to account”.
However, she also knew she had to address the latest issue with Mr Hayes.
This emerged the previous evening when he apologised in an online post for a “blackface” incident 16 years ago. It related to when he dressed up as former US president Barack Obama for a Halloween party.
[ Eoin Hayes to remain a member of Social Democrats despite ‘blackface’ controversyOpens in new window ]
Ms Cairns said: “There is no circumstances where blackface is okay.” However, she was glad Mr Hayes “issued an unreserved apology”.
She also said: “It is disappointing and I would prefer for the focus for the party today to be on all of those important issues that we’re focusing on in the new Dáil term.”
The ensuing press conference was, unsurprisingly, dominated by questions about Mr Hayes.
Ms Cairns confirmed the party did not plan to take disciplinary action, citing the context that the incident happened 16 years ago.
She also said: “This is undoubtedly a difficult time for the party and I know people are not happy about this. I too am not happy about this situation, but we have to move forward together and that’s what we’ll be focusing on.”
Desire to move forward notwithstanding, the controversy overshadowed her return to the political frontline and it is a headache she could have done without.
