This weekend marks forty years since the founding of the Progressive Democrats — the small, outspoken party that reshaped Irish politics, then vanished.

Born out of revolt against Fianna Fáil’s culture and economics, the PDs injected ideology into a system long defined by civil war loyalties rather than left-right debate. Pro-market, socially liberal, and unapologetic about the limits of the State, they punched far above their electoral weight for more than two decades.

Today, Irish politics is more fragmented than ever, but it is also strikingly pro-spending and pro-State across almost every major party. So, is there now a gap where the PDs once stood? Is there room — electorally and culturally — for a low-tax, small-state party in modern Ireland?

On today’s podcast, Sean Defoe is joined by Professor Gary Murphy, Professor of Politics at Dublin City University and biographer of Charles Haughey, to reflect on the PDs’ origins, influence, controversies, and their lasting legacy.