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.
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