Donegal Progressive Party
The Donegal Progressive Party was a minor political party in the Republic of Ireland.
Donegal Progressive Party | |
---|---|
Dissolved | November 2009 |
Ideology | Protestant Minority Interests |
The party drew its support mostly from the unionist and Protestant community in eastern County Donegal.[1] It was opposed to a united Ireland. At the 1973 general election, the party's leader advised Protestants to vote for Fianna Fáil, as it had "the most stable policy" on the border question.[2] Throughout the 1980s and 90s, the party held a single seat on Donegal County Council, but it lost this at the 1999 local elections.[3][4]
Jim Devenney, a butcher and member of the East Donegal Ulster Scots Association and the former deputy chairman of the Ulster-Scots Agency,[5] was the party's final representative, also contested Donegal North-East at the 1992 and 1997 general elections, and stood in Letterkenny again in 2004.[6] The party was removed from the Register of Political Parties in November 2009.[7]
References
- Crotty, William J.; Schmitt, David A. (17 June 2014). Ireland and the Politics of Change. Routledge. ISBN 9781317881186.
- James Knight and Nicolas Baxter-Moore, Republic of Ireland: The General Elections of 1969 and 1973
- Protestants lose out in the Republic Grand Orange Order Lodge website, October 1998.
- "Independent TD stands, and angers Fianna Fail".
- About Us - East Donegal Ulster Scots Association - Official Website
- Jim Devenney, ElectionsIreland.org
- Coughlan, Kieran (20 November 2009). "Electoral Acts 1992 and 2001: Register of Political Parties" (PDF). Iris Oifigiúil. Dublin: Government Publications Office: 1509. Retrieved 5 April 2016.