Blackface is a form of racism, says Cairns, after Hayes’ Obama impersonation

By Cillian Sherlock, PA

Social Democrats’ leader Holly Cairns said her party “abhors all kinds of racism” after a party TD admitted wearing “blackface” makeup as part of a Barack Obama costume.

Eoin Hayes has apologised for wearing the make-up on his face and hands during a Halloween party 16 years ago.

Images were published in the Irish Daily Mail on Tuesday, on the morning of the annual Social Democrats’ parliamentary party think-in, being held in Dublin.

Ms Cairns said the parliamentary party would need to “think about” the incident when it formally meets.

That event was due to mark her public return from maternity leave, and she said there were many other “important issues” she would prefer to be talking about.

There's no way to sugarcoat it. I'm hugely disappointed and annoyed about this situation

She said: “There’s no way to sugarcoat it. I’m hugely disappointed and annoyed about this situation.”

Speaking on RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland, Ms Cairns added: “Blackface is a form of racism. In the Social Democrats, we abhor all kinds of racism.”

Mr Hayes has described the incident, while he was the 22-year-old president of the University College Cork Students’ Union, as a “huge mistake”.

The TD, who said he worked on the former US president’s re-election campaign in 2012, said he took full responsibility for his “completely inappropriate” actions and condemned racism “in all its forms”.

In a statement on X the night before the images were published in the newspaper, Mr Hayes said: “As part of this costume, I wore brown makeup on my face and hands.”

He added: “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 am so profoundly sorry.

“What I did was completely inappropriate and a huge mistake.”

Ms Cairns welcomed Mr Hayes’s acknowledgement of the inappropriateness of his actions and said he had issued an “unreserved apology”.

Statement pic.twitter.com/bhiLHF1KO8

— Eoin Hayes 🌍 (@Eoin_Hayes) September 15, 2025

“I’m glad deputy Hayes has acknowledged that, taken full responsibility for it.”

She said he did not understand how objectionable and hurtful his actions were at the time, but added that he “should have known better”.

Ms Cairns said the Dublin Bay South TD will not be attending the party think-in on Tuesday as he did not want to “take attention away from the important issues” they want to focus on.

She said she first knew about the photographs when the party was contacted by the media on Monday, rather than through Mr Hayes.

She added that she had only spoken to Mr Hayes “very briefly” since then.

Ms Cairns said it is “very clear” Mr Hayes “would not be a Social Democrats TD” had he worn the brown make-up in the last year.

However, she added: “The fact that this happened 16 years ago is a very different situation.”

Ms Cairns said it was still “indefensible” but added there was a “context of a different time”.

She said the fact that he went on to work on the Obama re-election campaign showed a “lack of understanding rather than a mocking”.

Ms Cairns said the incident requires “a bit more to think about” as a party, which she said wanted to celebrate diversity and make sure everyone was welcome.

However, she said there was no question over his continuing membership of the Social Democrats.

It is the second time Mr Hayes has been at the centre of controversy this year.

The Social Democrats won 11 seats in November’s election, but Hayes was indefinitely suspended from the parliamentary party in December, just a month after being elected.

It came after he gave incorrect statements about shares he held in a company linked to the Israeli military.

He had initially told the media and his party colleagues that he divested shares in his former employer, Palantir Technologies, before being elected to Dublin City Council last June.

But he later disclosed that he sold the shares last July, 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 lifted by the party in July.

Ms Cairns, who was kept up to date on all major issues by deputy leader Cian O’Callaghan during her maternity leave, said she “fully supported” the lifting of the suspension.

Asked if he should give an account of the matter in the Dáil, she added that he had already “explained everything” about the shares in a statement.