Irelands PDs are no more-Today the party votes itself out of existence

A special conference of the Progressive Democrats has voted for the party to go out of existence, after the leadership stated it was no longer politically viable.
Delegates voted by holding voter registration cards aloft. The final tally was 201 votes to 161 against a motion to continue with the party.

The PDs were founded in 1985 following a split in the Haughey led FF party. This split had its genesis in the arms trial of 1970. This was an opportune time to found a new political party in Ireland as the economy was struggling.
FF TDs Desmond O’Malley, Mary Harney, Bobbie Molloy and Pearse Wyse left to form the new political party. They were joined by FG TD Michael Keating. Michael McDowell (not a TD at this time) also left FG to join the new party.

The PDs took on the mantle of tax cutters and proclaimed themselves as liberal on social issues. O’Malley and Harney when members of FF staunchly supported the disastrous FF Manifesto which swept FF to power in the 1977 general election. This give away manifesto was a major causative factor of Irelands economic problems in the 1980s. It was the brainchild of Martin O’Donoghue who also joined the new PD party. In the 1987 general election the PDs won 14 seats mainly at the expense of FG. Indeed FG never fully recovered from the PD threat until the 2007 general election.

The party’s strongholds were: Waterford city, Cork city, Limerick, Galway and parts of South Dublin.

In reality the party was an uneasy amalgam of anti- Haugheyite FFers, independents, carpetbaggers , political opportunists and extreme right wingers, many of whom failed to progress in FG and FF. It frequently in its initial stages poached FF and FG members. It never became a fully-fledged national political party. In reality the strongholds were personal fiefdoms. In most parts of Ireland, PDs were as scarce as icebergs in the Sahara. In contrast FF and FG have members in every parish. These are the eyes and ears of those parties. The PDs once proposed to remove God from the constitution-further emphasizing their lack of the common touch.

After the highs of the 1987 general election the new party gradually lost popular support. It fell into decline in Waterford and Cork. In Waterford PD TD Martin Cullen defected to FF. It lost Pat Cox following a divisive leadership contest involving Mary Harney and Cox. In its initial phase it put tax cuts and competition on the agenda. Frequently these were delivered in a cynical manner. The revenue foregone was recovered by means of Stealth Taxes.

Fortuitously for the PDs the party managed to secure the election of sufficient TDs to go into coalition with FF on four separate occasions. In essence the party became FF’s mudguard. However it had many apologists in the media.

In the 21st century the party had dispensed with any pretensions to radicalism. It binned any real commitment to tax cuts. It cynically supported FFs huge public expenditure splurges in the run in to the 2002 and 2007 general elections. In the 2002 general election it fared reasonably well by securing eight seats with a miniscule share of the vote. Some FG supporters switched to the PDs to prevent an overall FF majority. When Michael McDowell replaced Mary Harney as leader he became more FF than FF itself. McDowell continued to savagely attack FG. This was political folly as he had secured election largely with loaned FG votes. Mary Harney ran into serious difficulties as Minister for Health.

The electorate finally administered the coup de grace in the 2007 general election. The PDs returned with just two TDs- Mary Harney and Noel Grealish. The party lost high profile TDs such as McDowell, Liz O’Donnell, Tim O’Malley and Tom Parlon. It was fatally wounded even though once more it joined FF and the Greens in coalition.

Since the 2007 general election the party has continued to haemorrhage support. PD TD Noel Grealish intended to join FF.
Mercifully today the party was put out of its misery. Mary Harney intends to function as an independent whilst Fiona O’Malley and Noel Grealish will join FF. Party leader Ciaran Cannon may join FG. FG is the party, which stands to gain most as the PDs-though an FF splinter party- managed to siphon off support mainly from FG.

Ireland-The PDs a rudderless party in search of a leader

At a meeting of PDs General Council in Dublin today, it was agreed to amend party rules so as to enable senators, county councillors and other party members contest the leadership. Up until now only TDs could stand.

The party entered the 2007 General Election with 8 TDs and returned with two. Immediately Michael McDowell resigned. Defeated TDs Liz O’Donnell and Tom Parlon have moved on to pastures new.
Since the resignation of Michael McDowell the party has lurched from crisis to crisis. It has been unable to select a new leader as neither of its two TDs -Mary Harney and Noel Grealish- is interested in the post.

In an act of political desperation it prevailed upon Mary Harney to function as acting leader. Mary Harney has indicated that she has no intention of contesting the next General Election. Noel Grealish TD comes from the FF gene pool and has been quite supportive of Bertie Ahern at the Mahon Tribunal.
He has had secret negotiations with FF with a view to jumping ship. He is essentially a conditional PD.


The PD party grew out of the split in FF in 1985. This essentially resulted from personality differences between Desmond O'Malley and Charles Haughey. There were also major differences on Northern Ireland. At the root of these differences were the convulsions, which engulfed the FF Party in the wake of the arms crisis. Haughey never forgave the Lynch wing of the party. The PDs consisted of anti Haugheyites, a ragbag of independents, some disillusioned FGaelers, carpetbaggers and extreme right wingers. Many of its founders-as FF members -supported the disastrous FF Manifesto of 1977 which was a major cause of Ireland economic difficulties in the 1980s. Chief among these were Desmond O’Malley Martin O’Donoghue and Bobby Molloy. They were political opportunists who saw a gap in the market. They targeted the right wing of the FG Party. They have long been a parasitic party.


The party espoused low taxation and liberal policies. Their liberalism on social issues was phoney. The overwhelming majority of party supporters were conservative on social policy.
Income tax rates were reduced through shifting the burden to indirect taxation. Taxation as a percentage of GNP is rising in Ireland. From 2002 to 2005 the burden of personal taxation has risen. The FF/PD Governments have relied heavily upon stealth taxes and indirect taxation to plug gaps in public expenditure. The PD input in the last FF/PD Government was negligible. The PDs were masters of the political three-card trick. They have consistently formed coalition governments with FF. Prior to the 2002 General Election they strongly supported Charlie McCreevy’s huge public expenditure splurge. Similarly in 2007 they supported a 13% rise in public expenditure in the run in to the General Election. So much for fiscal rectitude. Haughey and O'Malley have departed the political stage. There are no major ideological differences between FF and the PDs. The PDs no longer have a raison d'etre. This Coalition Government is an FF/Green Party government. There were no meaningful negotiations between the PDs and FF in the wake of the 2007 General Election. The PDs just make up the numbers.


Senator Ciaran Cannon comes from the FF gene pool. He lacks the political gravitas to lead a political party.-especially a party which no longer has any core beliefs. He will use the leadership campaign as a vehicle to increase his public profile and thereby increase his prospects of winning a seat in East Galway.
From 2002-2007 Fiona O’Malley has consistently taken up policy positions at variance with government policy. She has often adopted a semi-independent role. Much of her thinking is muddled.
Today General Secretary John Higgins announced his resignation. This is apposite
The PDs stand on the edge of the political precipice. It is time to wind up the party.