Progressive Democrats

Common card · No. 442262

The Progressive Democrats (Irish: An Páirtí Daonlathach, literally "The Democratic Party"), commonly referred to as the PDs, were a conservative liberal political party in Ireland. The party's history spanned 24 years, from its formation in 1985 to its dissolution in 2009. Launched on 21 December 1985 by Desmond O'Malley and other politicians who had split from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, the Progressive Democrats took liberal positions on divorce, contraception and other social issues. The party also supported economic liberalisation, advocating measures such as lower taxation, fiscal conservatism, privatisation and welfare reform. The party performed strongly at its first election, the 1987 general election, winning 14 seats in Dáil Éireann and capturing almost 12 per cent of the popular vote to temporarily surpass the Labour Party as Ireland's third-largest political party. Although the Progressive Democrats never again won more than 10 seats in the Dáil, it formed coalition governments...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Progressive Democrats, Public domain