The gloss has gone off the Social Democrats with one of its new TDs overboard before the Dáil even meets for the first time.
Eoin Hayes scooped a surprise win in Dublin Bay South to claim the final seat - one of several gains for the party - swelling its ranks to 11.
But within days he was embroiled in a row over profiting from shares in a controversial software company which supplies the Israeli military.
Next came an excruciating press conference on Tuesday morning when he refused to confirm exactly when he sold his shares in Palantir Technologies. Within a few hours, the new deputy was suspended from the Social Democrats.
He had misled the party and the media on when he divested his shares. It turns out he only sold them in July this year for €200,000, not before he was first elected to the council in June, as he had claimed.
This was a serious matter, according to deputy leader Cian O'Callaghan, and the new TD has been suspended while an internal review is under way.
But several questions remain, with many in the party angry at how the matter was handled.
"It should never have happened the way it did," said one TD adding that they were expecting that he would have the answers when facing the media.
Other parties have dismissed the Social Democrats handling of the matter as "amateur", letting the story drag on for days rather than dealing with it immediately.
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And there are broader questions for the party on the failure of its vetting procedures. Mr Hayes clearly lists his employment at the firm on his LinkedIn page.
This should have raised a red flag internally as Palantir is a controversial company. It was co-founded by US billionaire Peter Thiel, who is a Republican donor and pro-Trump supporter.
In January, the company announced a strategic partnership with the Israeli Defence Ministry to supply technology to help the country’s war effort. Palantir’s artificial intelligence models can analyse enemy targets and propose airstrikes.
This clearly does not sit with the Social Democrats’ position on Gaza. And it seems that while the party was hammering the Government and calling for more sanctions on Israel and Israeli companies, one of its own elected members was also profiting directly from a company bolstering the Israeli war effort.
The Social Democrats have made a major play of their support for Gaza and raise the issue constantly in the Dáil, castigating the Government for not doing more.
This has raised the hackles of many in the coalition parties who feel that Ireland under the current administration has gone out on a limb to demonstrate its solidarity with Palestine
Those within the Social Democrats reject any suggestion that this has weakened its message on Gaza, with one saying that the public recognises its bona fides on the issue.
Among other political parties, there is a certain amount of glee at the fall from grace of the Social Democrats.
'Holier than thou'
Many TDs see the party as 'holier than thou’ with its short history allowing it to claim the moral high ground. And ethics in public life has been at the centre of its offering.
For Labour, this has been a particularly sweet development which means it now has more TDs (11) versus the Social Democrats (10).
But will he return? Mr Hayes has said that he would work to earn back the trust of his Social Democrat colleagues, so he clearly wants to return to the fold.
Party figures have been reticent to make a call on this. The official line is that the internal review with an indefinite timeline has to play out.
His party colleagues are also sticking to the line that it is too early to say whether he might have to resign permanently.
It seems that the party may be hoping that it can ride this out with the passage of time lessening the controversy.
'False pretences'
But other political parties are clear that such a serious ethical matter should be cause for expulsion.
And while it is not possible to rerun the General Election, Sinn Féin has been quick to insist that its former deputy Chris Andrews would have held on to his seat if the full story had been out there.
Matt Carthy even said that Eoin Hayes should resign as he was elected under "false pretences".
Another defeated candidate, Green Party councillor Hazel Chu, may also feel aggrieved as it's possible she could also have made a stronger play for the final seat.
Meanwhile, there is a contrast with the party’s treatment of a local election candidate earlier this year.
The Social Democrats deselected a German-born Jewish woman with Israeli citizenship from its local election ticket in Dún Laoghaire.
It's understood that the party felt that Orla Degani's views were no longer compatible with the Social Democrats' stance on the war in Gaza.
This demonstrates how the party has been extremely sensitive to any suggestion of a dilution of its messaging on Gaza.
Leinster House is likely to be a difficult place for Eoin Hayes as he will not be a member of a party but equally, he is in a twilight zone of not quite being a fully-fledged Independent.
He could join a technical group to gain speaking rights, but that might preclude his return to the Social Democrats.
This means he will have extremely limited speaking time and will find it next to impossible to make his mark on anything.
