End of the PDs

There are no tears shed at this desk about the demise of the Progressive Democrats. But the decision to disband was logical, and there's no disgrace in it.

The PD party that took its momentous decision yesterday was a far cry from the entity that was melded in the white heat of Haughey-hatred and Thatcherite ideology. Long gone are the radical politics of flat rate taxes, and while PD leaders have variously roused the right-wing rabble (Harney on single mothers; McDowell on inequality), it was never to any serious intent, and the party's ideology has long since blended seamlessly into the mainstream of Irish politics. The tipping point had long since passed even when they started boasting about introducing the minimum wage.

We are likely to see much misty-eyed commentary now about how the PDs brought common sense to Irish taxation policy, and how much their ideas are now conventional wisdom. There can be no doubt that the electorate have shown much enthusiasm for low personal taxes (and why not), but they've also shown a desire for proper public services, and we have yet to face up to the reality of that debate. The PDs' brand of individualist centre-right liberalism is more than well catered for in FF and FG. The bleatings of Varadkar or Noel Treacy outstrip anything the PDs have to offer nowadays.

The real reason why the PDs have gone out of business is because of a lack of depth in their organisation. The loss of ideologues like McDowell and populists like Parlon leave the party without the prospect of making any further electoral progress. They have left a legacy of a selfish individualist politics -- but they didn't do it by themselves. There were plenty in other parties, and there's plenty still standing, plenty still in office, and plenty waiting in the wings to advance that cause.