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.

Fianna Fail And The Cult Of The Leader: The Deification Of Brian Cowen Has Begun

Since the foundation of FF in 1926 much of its success has been based on the cult of the leader.
On the election of the new leader the FF spin machine swings into action propagating truths, half-truths and myths if necessary to build up the profile of the new chief. It is a form of deification.
Hand and hand with this goes the demonization of political opponents.

Eamonn De Valera founded the party in 1926. Certainly he was successful in maintaining FFs grip on power. However he singularly failed to reach out to Northern Unionists. Through his constitution he effectively widened the divide between North and South. He took the anti treaty side in the civil war in 1922 but did nothing about unity on accession to power. He failed to tackle the scourge of emigration. He instigated an Economic War, which bankrupted many farmers. He did of course win back the Treaty ports and kept Ireland out of World War Two. He was no colossus.

As Taoiseach Sean Lemass was driven by a desire to promote economic development via the Programmes for Economic Expansion. He was fortunate that the FG Minister for Finance Gerald Sweetman had promoted TK Whitaker who masterminded the development of economic planning. Lemass attempted to reach out to the North. The Lemass O’Neill meetings were a step forward.

Jack Lynch helped alter FF policy on Northern Ireland. Nevertheless he led FF to a landslide victory in the 1977 General Election on the back of the infamous FF Manifesto which triggered the massive economic problems of the 1980s. Lynch was a failure on the economy.

Charlie Haughey doubled the National Debt between 1979 and 1981 and gave a 30% Public Sector pay rise in an effort to bribe the electorate. Under that Haughey Government interest rates hit 21%. This was as irresponsible as the FF Manifesto of 1977. These activities of Lynch and Haughey have been airbrushed from history. In opposition in the 1980s Haughey incited interest groups against the FG/Labour Governments. He fought the 1987 General Election on the slogan of "Health Cuts Hurt The Sick And The Poor". On accession to Government he butchered the health service. Between 1987 and 1989, 200,000 people emigrated. This served to reduce pressure on the Government finances. Gradually the economy recovered. Haughey sought to improve relations with Margaret Thatcher and made some worthwhile moves on the North. Quite frankly he deserves little credit for improvements in the economy. After all Haughey and FF created many of the economic problems.

Albert Reynolds made worthwhile moves on the North and successfully secured 8 billion punts in Euro transfers. Then the FF/Labour Government collapsed.

Bertie Ahern deserves credit for the Good Friday Agreement and social partnership.
He benefited from the 12.5% Corporation Tax rate proposed by the Rainbow Government. This boosted economic development. He was partially responsible for economic success. This was further boosted by low Euro interest rates.

Already the FF propaganda machine with its supporters in the media has been in overdrive talking up new leader Brian Cowen whilst attempting to undermine FG leader Enda Kenny. It glides over the problems in Government Finances major difficulties in the housing market, rising unemployment-up 30,000 in the last three months and 5% inflation.

Yes indeed the cult of the leader is alive and well in FF and in sympathetic media organs such as the Sunday Independent.
The deification of Brian Cowen has begun

Bertie Ahern resignation a political bombshell which rocks Irish political scene

The decision of Bertie Ahern to resign as Taoiseach and as leader of FF has certainly caught political observers by surprise. Ahern's decision is typical of the man. He has always jelled with the electorate and was certainly a man of the people in the sense that the general public always found him approachable. Nevertheless he is somewhat of an enigma. It can truthfully be said that not even front bench members could decipher his intentions on certain issues. He was closest to his Drumcondra friends.

His travails at the Mahon Tribunal and the evidence of Grainne Carruth effectively sealed his fate. Increasingly government ministers were preoccupied fending off questions on Mr Ahern’s evidence. It is obvious that the pressure had begun to take its toll on him, as he appeared to have aged immeasurably in recent months.
Undoubtedly a failure to resign could have impacted seriously on the referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.
The verdict of the Mahon Tribunal will play a major role in determining his place in Irish political history.

Clearly his Governments have failed to resolve the health crisis. In addition prior to the 2002 and 2007 General Elections public expenditure escalated out of control. This undoubtedly contributed to the feel good factor which ensured electoral success. In addition in parts of Dublin and Limerick there are major problems with crime gangs. Nevertheless he has had some noticeable achievements to his credit. To this observer the six outlined below are his greatest:

• He championed social partnership.


• He united the warring Reynolds and Haughey factions on assuming leadership of FF.


• He led FF to three successive General Election victories.


• He played a major role in the Good Friday Agreement.


• He was partly responsible for the development of the Celtic Tiger. The Rainbow Government's decision to introduce a 12.5% Corporation Tax rate also contributed enormously.


• He successfully assembled coalition governments with the Greens and PDs

Clearly he has done FF some service.