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The Progressive Democrats (in Irish An Páirtí Daonlathach, literal back-translation: The Democratic Party) is a free market liberal party in the Republic of Ireland founded in 1985. It adopts liberal positions on both economic issues and social or moral matters. It is a member of the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party (ELDR), which is a constituent part of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE). It polled 4% at the last two general elections. Nevertheless the PDs have had a significant influence on Irish public policy in recent years. By entering into coalition governments, the PDs have had a rather disproportionate impact on government policy to their own size.
Policies
The party is said to be the closest thing to a libertarian party in Ireland. While this may be true in the sense that they strongly support civil liberties and free market economics, they do have several left-wing policies (see below).
The Progressive Democrats' economic policies are based on liberal economics. They support a free enterprise, low tax and pro-competition policy base. The party leader, Mary Harney, has been quoted as saying she felt "closer to Boston than Berlin", which meant she favoured the free market economic model of the US ahead of the stronger European public realm.
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Thu, 28 Aug 2008 23:19:19 -0000
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Thu, 28 Aug 2008 22:59:26 -0000
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Thu, 28 Aug 2008 22:57:38 -0000
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Thu, 28 Aug 2008 15:15:18 -0000
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Progressive Democrats - Market liberal party of Ireland. Daily news updates, policy information and profiles of public representatives.
Meta Description: [ The Progressive Democrats is a liberal Party which was formed in 1985 by Desmond O'Malley and Mary Harney to break the mould of Irish politics and give the Irish voters a new and real alternative to the Civil War parties then dominating Irish politics. ]
Trinity Progressive Democrats - Young Progressive Democrats in Trinity College.
Young Progressive Democrats - The youth organisation of the Progressive Democrats Party. Information about policies, activities, regions and branches.
Meta Description: [ Young Progressive Democrats ]
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