Editing Progressive Democrats (section)

==History==
===Foundation===
The party was founded in 1985 by [[Desmond O'Malley]], a former senior minister in Fianna Fáil governments under [[Jack Lynch]] and [[Charles Haughey]]. O'Malley was a strong opponent of Haughey and was involved in a number of leadership heaves against Haughey, who was popular and controversial in equal measure. O'Malley had lost the Fianna Fáil whip in the Dáil in 1984 because of his support for the [[New Ireland Forum]] report and was finally expelled from Fianna Fáil early in 1985 for "conduct unbecoming" a member when he refused to support Fianna Fáil's opposition to the introduction of contraception.

At the party's launch in December 1985, O'Malley was joined by [[Mary Harney]], who had lost the Fianna Fáil parliamentary whip, and by former Fine Gael activist [[Michael McDowell (politician)|Michael McDowell]]. In the weeks after its launch, Fianna Fáil TDs [[Bobby Molloy]] and [[Pearse Wyse]], and [[Fine Gael]] TD [[Michael Keating (Irish politician)|Michael Keating]] also joined the party. The defectors were dissatisfied with the policies of existing parties, which they viewed as being insufficiently liberal, both economically and on social issues such as divorce and contraception. In Ireland in 1985, when personal income above [[Irish pound|£]]7,300 per annum was taxed at 60 percent, the country's [[Government debt|national debt]] was 104 percent of GDP, unemployment was 17.3 percent, the Progressive Democrats' liberal reformist agenda was considered especially radical.

McDowell suggested a number of names for the party, including New Democrats, New Republic, National Party, Radical Party; Progressive Democrats was not among his suggestions.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Breaking the Mould: How the PDs changed Irish politics|last=Collins|first=Stephen|publisher=Gill & Macmillan|year=2005|isbn=978-07171-4166-1|location=Dublin|pages=226}}</ref> O'Malley declared that the party ought to be pro-enterprise, in favour of economic participation by all, liberal and pluralist, hostile to institutional dependency, favourable to incentives, pro self-reliance, deregulating where possible, anti-monopoly and pro-competition, low-key on nationalism, stressing "real republican" values rather than "nationalistic myths".<ref name=":0" />

===Electoral breakthrough and coalition===
[[File:Progressive Democrats (Ireland) logo, circa 1980s.png|thumb|250px|upright=1.2|The first logo of the party, used during the 1980s]]
At the [[1987 Irish general election|1987 general election]] the new party won 14 seats and 11.9% of the vote, becoming the third-largest party in the [[25th Dáil]]. The Progressive Democrats formed the second-largest opposition party under difficult circumstances. The minority Fianna Fáil government introduced some of the economic reforms that the Progressive Democrats had recommended. Fianna Fáil was however largely supported by Fine Gael where the economy was concerned, and so the Progressive Democrats had difficulty being effective in opposition.

After the [[1989 Irish general election|1989 general election]], the party had only six seats but formed a coalition government with Fianna Fáil, with Charles Haughey as [[Taoiseach]], which was the first time Fianna Fáil entered coalition. PD leader Desmond O'Malley served as [[Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment|Minister for Industry and Commerce]].

In 1990, a scandal broke surrounding [[Tánaiste]] (deputy prime minister) [[Brian Lenihan Snr]]'s role in pressuring President [[Patrick Hillery]] not to allow then-Taoiseach [[Garret FitzGerald]] to dissolve the Dáil in 1982. The Progressive Democrats gave Haughey an ultimatum—unless Lenihan was removed from cabinet, they would pull out of the coalition and support a no-confidence motion in the government. Haughey tried to force Lenihan to resign, and sacked him when he refused. A year later, after former Justice Minister [[Seán Doherty (Roscommon politician)|Seán Doherty]] claimed that Haughey had authorised [[Irish phone tapping scandal|tapping journalists' phones]] in the 1980s, the PDs told Haughey that they would tear up the coalition agreement if he remained as Taoiseach. With O'Malley's approval, Haughey stood down as Taoiseach in February 1992. He was replaced by [[Albert Reynolds]], and O'Malley retained his cabinet post.

===Harney leadership===
After the collapse of Reynolds' first administration later in 1992, O'Malley retired from the leadership of the party. Following the 1992 general election, [[John Dardis]] (Agricultural Panel) and [[Cathy Honan]] (Industrial and Commercial Panel) were elected to [[Seanad Éireann]] as part of an election pact with their politically polar opposites [[Democratic Left (Ireland)|Democratic Left]].<ref>[http://www.ucc.ie/en/government/Staff/LiamWeeks/Research/DocumentFile-64652-en.pdf Chapter 10 The Subterranean Election of the Seanad] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200413000635/http://www.ucc.ie/en/government/Staff/LiamWeeks/Research/DocumentFile-64652-en.pdf |date=13 April 2020 }} Michael Gallagher and Liam Weeks UCC</ref> Mary Harney became the new leader after a bitter electoral contest with [[Pat Cox]] who later left the party. Harney was the first woman to lead any of the major Irish political parties.{{efn|[[Margaret Buckley]] had led Sinn Féin between 1936 and 1950, but during a period where they held no seats in the Dáil and didn't contest elections.}} Harney served as [[Tánaiste]] (deputy prime minister) from May 1997 until September 2006 after a return to government in coalition with Fianna Fáil.

In the [[2002 Irish general election|2002 general election]] the party doubled its Dáil seats to eight, although its share of the vote declined slightly to 4%. In total, the Progressive Democrats participated in coalition governments four times, on each occasion with Fianna Fáil (1989–1992; 1997–2002; 2002–2007; 2007–2009), and also with the [[Green Party (Ireland)|Green Party]] from 2007 to 2009.

In 2005 Michael McDowell publicly took a firmly anti-republican position and named Gerry Adams, Martin McGuinness and Martin Ferris as members of the IRA Army Council. The convention in Irish politics at this time was not to accuse Sinn Féin politicians of being members of the Army Council, in doing so McDowell broke with convention. He said that until the IRA disbanded Sinn Féin could not be involved in government, North or South.<ref name=":0" />

===McDowell leadership and demise===
On 7 September 2006, Mary Harney announced that she was stepping down as leader of the Progressive Democrats. She expressed a wish to stay on as Minister for Health.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.rte.ie/news/2006/0907/harneym.html|title=Harney steps down as leader of PDs|work=[[RTÉ News]]|date=7 September 2006|access-date=16 February 2008|archive-date=9 April 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080409182723/http://www.rte.ie/news/2006/0907/harneym.html|url-status=live}}</ref> On 10 September, Michael McDowell was elected unopposed as Party Leader, having been nominated by [[Tom Parlon]] and that nomination being seconded by [[Liz O'Donnell]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.progressivedemocrats.ie/press_room/2033/|title=Michael McDowell confirmed as Progressive Democrats Party Leader|work=Progressive Democrats website|date=11 September 2006|access-date=16 February 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071120093338/http://www.progressivedemocrats.ie/press_room/2033/|archive-date=20 November 2007}}</ref> Liz O'Donnell became Deputy Leader and Tom Parlon became Party President.

The [[2007 Irish general election|2007 general election]] was a disastrous one for the party. The Progressive Democrats lost six of their eight seats in the 166-seat [[Dáil]]. Among those to lose their seats were party leader Michael McDowell, deputy leader Liz O'Donnell and party president Tom Parlon.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/0525/election6.html|title=McDowell quits amid chaotic election for PDs|work=[[RTÉ News]]|date=25 May 2007|access-date=16 February 2008|archive-date=17 January 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080117175415/http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/0525/election6.html|url-status=live}}</ref> McDowell retired from public life after he lost his seat, and Mary Harney was asked by the party chairperson to resume the role of party leader.<ref>{{cite news|title=Mary Harney asked to resume PD leadership|url=http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/0527/pds.html|work=[[RTÉ News]]|date=27 May 2007|access-date=27 May 2007|quote=The Chairman of the Progressive Democrats, Peter Wyer, has asked Mary Harney to assume the functions and responsibilities of party leader until the formation of the next Government.|archive-date=30 May 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070530172410/http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/0527/pds.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The following month, Tom Parlon announced that he was also leaving public life and would take up the position of Director General of the Irish Construction Industry Federation.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/0710/pds.html|title=Parlon quits PDs for construction industry job|work=[[RTÉ News]]|date=10 July 2007|access-date=16 February 2008|archive-date=22 January 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080122050626/http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/0710/pds.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

A committee headed by former Senator [[John Dardis]] recommended in September 2007 that the role of leader be taken on by a senator or councillor (although the party rules then required that the position must be held by a TD).<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2007/0928/breaking44.html|title=PDs set to broaden leadership criteria|author=Boyes, Nicola|newspaper=[[The Irish Times]]|date=28 September 2007|access-date=16 February 2008|archive-date=20 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110520112036/http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2007/0928/breaking44.html|url-status=live}}</ref> A meeting of the party's General Council on 16 February 2008 changed the rules to allow any senator, councillor or any party member with the support of 20 other members to stand for the party's leadership<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0216/pds.html|title=PDs change leadership rules|work=[[RTÉ News]]|date=16 February 2008|access-date=16 February 2008|archive-date=26 February 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080226113928/http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0216/pds.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and on 17 April, Senator [[Ciarán Cannon]] was elected leader, defeating fellow Senator [[Fiona O'Malley]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.progressivedemocrats.ie/press_room/2434/|title=Senator Ciaran Cannon is the new leader of the Progressive Democrats|work=Progressive Democrats|date=17 April 2008|access-date=17 April 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303193413/http://www.progressivedemocrats.ie/press_room/2434/|archive-date=3 March 2016}}</ref>

The party's two remaining [[Teachta Dála|TD]]s, [[Mary Harney]] and [[Noel Grealish]], entered into coalition government with [[Fianna Fáil]] and the [[Green Party (Ireland)|Green Party]] in the [[30th Dáil]]. The party never recovered from this electoral collapse. On 8 November 2008, with all parliamentary members (two TDs and two Senators) and founder Desmond O'Malley united in the opinion that the party was no longer politically viable, delegates to a special conference in [[Mullingar]] voted by 201 votes to 161 to bring the Progressive Democrats to an end.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/1108/pd.html |title=PDs vote to wind up political party |date=8 November 2008 |work=[[RTÉ News]] |access-date=8 November 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081211110548/http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/1108/pd.html |archive-date=11 December 2008 }}</ref> In January 2009 the party was still operating and in receipt of state funding,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.tribune.ie/news/article/2009/jan/11/a-wind-up-pds-continue-to-receive-state-funding/|title=A wind-up? PDs continue to receive state funding|author=Coleman, Shane|work=[[Sunday Tribune]]|date=11 January 2009|access-date=19 January 2009}}{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> including a Party Leader's Allowance paid to Minister Mary Harney,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2009/0623/breaking48.htm|title=Parties get €13.7m in State funding|date=26 June 2009|newspaper=[[The Irish Times]]|access-date=26 June 2009|archive-date=23 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210923012511/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/parties-get-13-7m-in-state-funding-1.842274|url-status=live}}</ref> but had ceased to receive funding by the following June. In March 2009, Noel Grealish became caretaker leader after Cannon's decision to join [[Fine Gael]], and he retained the role for the remaining months of the party's existence.

The archives of the Progressive Democrats party were presented to [[University College Dublin]] on 10 June 2009.<ref name=archives>{{cite news|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/0610/1224248537815.html|title=PDs to donate all archives of party's history to UCD|newspaper=[[The Irish Times]]|date=10 June 2009|access-date=10 June 2009|archive-date=8 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111108222251/http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/0610/1224248537815.html|url-status=live}}</ref> At least 20 former Progressive Democrats councillors won seats on [[Local government in the Republic of Ireland|county, city and town councils]] at the [[2009 Irish local elections|2009 local elections]]. Some were elected as [[Fine Gael]] candidates, some as [[Fianna Fáil]] and others as independents.<ref name=archives/>

===Later events===
At the [[2011 Irish general election|2011 general election]] 11 former Progressive Democrats members stood as candidates for the Dáil in a country-wide spread of constituencies. Three former PD members were elected: [[Mary Mitchell O'Connor]] (PD Councillor 2004–2008) was elected in [[Dún Laoghaire (Dáil constituency)|Dún Laoghaire]] for Fine Gael, [[Ciarán Cannon]] (PD Senator 2007–2009 / party leader 2008–2009) was elected in [[Galway East (Dáil constituency)|Galway East]] for the same party, while [[Noel Grealish]] (PD TD 2002–2009 / caretaker party leader 2009) was re-elected as an independent TD for [[Galway West (Dáil constituency)|Galway West]]. Several ex-PD members stood for election to Seanad Éireann in 2011. [[Cáit Keane]] was elected as a Fine Gael senator; she had served on [[South Dublin County Council]] for the PDs between 1991 and 2008, and had stood for election in the [[Dublin South-Central (Dáil constituency)|Dublin South-Central constituency]] for the PDs in 1992, 1994 and 1997.

As of 2024, Noel Grealish remains in the Dáil, having been re-elected as an independent in [[2011 Irish general election|2011]], [[2016 Irish general election|2016]], [[2020 Irish general election|2020]] and [[2024 Irish general election|2024]].