Des O'Malley Progressive Democrats founder has died.

You can thank McDowell for that. And I don't think it's correct or fair to say the media characterized them as hard right, rather tracking them as McDowell let them in a death spiral. I remember the McDowell era well, and he very clearly went after anything vaguely left-wing in very odd terms, as if Lenin's ghost was going to manifest itself in O'Connell Street and stage a Bolshevik putsch.

It was an electioneering strategy brought about by the PDs being squeezed out by Bertie's slashing of income taxes and spending like a drunk sailor on stamp duty receipts from the booming housing market. The PDs were on-again off-again enablers of this in coalition so couldn't really call a halt to it, as it was ridiculously popular with an electorate in a trance and Bertie as Pied Piper. We know how the story ends with the economy, but McDowell had to stake out some sort of ground at the ballot box and chose to go after a paper mache imaginary hard-left force that would bring doom upon us all (whereas it was the financial permissiveness and an economy out of control was the real villain, which they were active participants in). Didn't jive with the electorate because Ireland isn't Arizona or Texas, and we don't check for communists under our bed each night.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, was the sad story of how the PDs ceased to be.

Mad Dog Macca has mellowed in his political dotage, and he's actually a really good Senator - but his leadership spell with the PDs did a disservice to himself and the party O'Malley founded.

Lol . He did what he did because he got kicked out of FF for his treachery . He wasn’t even man enough to publicly challenge CJ for leadership of the party . Always hiding behind someone else .

He set up the I hate Charlie Haughey Party (thats what the PDs were) and the first thing it did was enter a power deal with Don CJ . Oh that’s real holding CJH to account . Waffle !

His time as government Minister, bar perhaps time as Minister for Justice , is nothing to write home out . He ain’t the shining knight people are now building him up to be .

He was nothing like his uncle. He was middle of the road conservative with little to no imagination . Liberal , lol

A lot of revisionism going on since his death . Utter nonsense in fact . How many of ye commentators were old enough to remember this guy ?

I am dealing with his politics and his time as a politician and only that . RIP nonetheless