FORMER PD leader Des O’Malley described UCD’s Newman House on St Stephen’s Green as “a splendid place to have for a wake”, at the formal handing over the party archive to the university.
Mr O’Malley said that while archives were important they did not tell the whole story and he told the academics present that they should not forget the oral tradition.
“Cabinet papers are minimal and now with the Freedom of Information Act they are going to be less than minimal; they will be non-existent,” he said.
Mr O’Malley also bemoaned the rules governing party funding which, he said, would make it impossible for new parties to challenge the incumbents as State funding was based on previous electoral performance.
He said that only a political movement backed by a very rich man could now challenge the established parties, as we had seen in this country recently.
Mr O’Malley paid tribute to all the people who had been involved with the PDs from their formation in 1985 until their demise this year.
Accepting the donation of the archives, Prof Ronan Fanning described the election of so many former PDs in the local elections as a tribute to the integrity of the party.
