The irony may be that the PDs are folding at a time when a similar party might emerge, writes Elaine Byrne
DES O'MALLEY, founding leader of the Progressive Democrats, was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Limerick in 2003. Things were different then. Limerick East was still a PD stronghold and the party boasted eight seats, a tánaiste and ministerial portfolios.
O'Malley was generous with his time that day in Limerick. With standing room only, he spent the hour before the university ceremony batting questions from students who didn't particularly like his politics. O'Malley was up for the challenge and drolly rebuffed the robust opposition to his economic views. It was great fun to chair.
There was a grudging respect for him, this national political personality who forever broke the mould of Irish politics in 1985. His decision to abstain from voting on the Fine Gael/Labour government Family Planning (Amendment) Bill in February that year gave voice to underlying opposition in Fianna Fáil to Charles Haughey.
Quoting an Irish Times letter writer (a monk from Glenstal Abbey), O'Malley told a shocked Dáil in February 1985: "I do not believe that the interests of this State, or our Constitution and of this Republic, would be served by putting politics before conscience . . . I stand by the Republic and accordingly I will not oppose this Bill."
O'Malley was subsequently expelled from Fianna Fáil and the PDs were born.
The party did well at a time when Fine Gael struggled in government, unsure of its identity, and secured 14 seats in 1987. The PDs spent 14 of their 23-year history in government (which compares favourably to Fine Gael's 75-year history with 19 years in government). Arguably they had a bigger impact on policy than any other party in the last 25 years.
But this week it became clear that the PDs' constant struggle for survival was over.
The PDs are not the first Irish political party to burn brightly at their inception and die a death some 20 years later.
Clann na Talmhan and Clann na Poblachta rocked Irish politics in the 1940s, securing 5.5 per cent and 13.2 per cent respectively in the 1948 election. Together with Fine Gael, National Labour, Labour and a motley collection of Independents, the first coalition government (1948-1951) in the history of the State was formed.
What similarities are there in the reasons why small parties emerge and then disappear? Does the same fate await the Green Party and Sinn Féin?
Dr Eoin O'Malley, a lecturer at Dublin City University, contends that "all these parties ended up in government and ended up getting 'smothered' in policy terms, either because their policies were adopted by the larger parties, or because their radical edge was blunted by the inevitable compromises of government. So all of these parties eventually go to the wall after being in government because either the crisis that caused them to emerge subsides, or the other parties react and the party seems less relevant".
For example, Clann na Talmhan (Family of the Land) was founded in Athenry by Michael Donnellan. The party won 13 seats at the 1943 election but lost half its support within five years following a renewed Fianna Fáil focus on agriculture.
An ardent republican Seán MacBride sought to evoke a "new political morality" and established Clann na Poblachta. The party capitalised on Fianna Fáil's failure to deliver radical social reform during a period of exceptional poverty, unemployment and emigration.
It was almost immediately thrust into government without the opportunity to organise grassroots structures. Inevitably, it was unable to compete with the political machines of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, and dropped almost 10 percentage points at the subsequent 1951 election.
The 1980s recession gave rise to the Workers' Party. In 1989 Proinsias De Rossa's party achieved its highest vote at 5 per cent. The party split in 1992 to form Democratic Left, which merged with the Labour Party in 1999.
Is there a case that our candidate-centred electoral system hinders small policy focused parties? The joint TCD-UCD study The Irish Voter, published this year, concluded that Irish electoral competition was due to long-established party loyalties rather than any ideological grounds. "The fact that voters do not choose on policy grounds is not necessarily because they are unwilling; it may be that they are not offered much of a choice."
Where to now? Niche political parties traditionally emerged in Ireland during times of economic upheaval and crisis.
The irony might be that the PDs are folding at a time when a similar party might emerge. Declan Ganley told RTÉ Radio 1's News at One yesterday that "fresh blood" was needed.
"I don't know if Libertas is yet in a position to do something about it but something has to be done."
Better the devil you know?