View source for National Progressive Democrats

{{short description|Irish political party, 1958 to 1963}}
{{distinguish|Progressive Democrats}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Use Hiberno-English|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox political party
| country = the Republic of Ireland
| name = National Progressive Democrats
| native_name = 
| logo = 
| leader = 
| chairman = 
| secretary_general = 
| leader1_title = Founders
| leader1_name = [[Noël Browne]],<br/>[[Jack McQuillan]]
| foundation = 1958
| dissolution = 1963
| headquarters = 
| ideology = [[Socialism]]<br />[[Progressivism]]
| position = [[Left Wing]]
| merged = [[Labour Party (Ireland)|Labour Party]]
| colorcode = {{party color|National Progressive Democrats}}
}}
The '''National Progressive Democrats''' was a small [[Socialism|socialist]] political party in [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]], active between 1958 and 1963.

The party was founded as a [[Left-wing politics|left-wing]] [[Progressivism|progressive]] [[Secularism|secular]] party.<ref>{{cite news |title=Browne and McQuillan to form new party |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/archive/1958/0517/Pg002.html#Ar00201 |page=2 |url-access=subscription |access-date=8 July 2022 |newspaper=[[The Irish Times]] |date=17 May 1958}}</ref> Its founders were [[Noël Browne]] (former [[Minister for Health (Ireland)|Minister for Health]]) and [[Jack McQuillan]], former members of the social democratic wing of [[Clann na Poblachta]]. The party was noted for its vigorous role in [[Dáil Éireann]]. Between 1958 and 1961, 7 of the 9 motions discussed in Private Member's Time had been proposed by one of them. In 1961 and 1962, they asked 1,400 parliamentary questions, 17% of the total. [[Taoiseach]] [[Seán Lemass]] paid them a compliment by referring to them as "the real opposition". Both were re-elected at the [[1961 Irish general election|1961 general election]], but the party won little support as it fielded only one other candidate.

The party was disbanded when it merged into the [[Labour Party (Ireland)|Labour Party]] in 1963.<ref>{{cite news |title=Browne and McQuillan join Labour Party |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/archive/1963/1128/Pg001.html#Ar00101 |page=1 |url-access=subscription |access-date=8 July 2022 |newspaper=The Irish Times |date=28 November 1963}}</ref> However, both Browne and McQuillan lost their seats in the next election contesting for the Labour Party.

==List of National Progressive Democrat candidates==
{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|-
!Election
!Constituency  
!Candidate
!1st Pref. votes
!% 
|-
|[[Dublin South-Central (Dáil constituency)#1958 by-election|1958 Dublin South-Central by-election]]
|[[Dublin South-Central (Dáil constituency)|Dublin South-Central]]
|[[Noel Hartnett]]
|align="right"|2,688
|align="right"|15.3
|-
|rowspan="3"|[[1961 Irish general election|1961 general election]]
|[[Carlow-Kilkenny (Dáil constituency)|Carlow-Kilkenny]]
|Kathleen Brady
|align="right"|1,484
|align="right"|3.4 
|-
|[[Dublin South-East (Dáil constituency)|Dublin South-East]]
|'''[[Noël Browne]]'''
|align="right"|4,717
|align="right"|19.1
|-
|[[Roscommon (Dáil constituency)|Roscommon]]
|'''[[Jack McQuillan]]'''
|align="right"|5,289
|align="right"|15.1
|}

==General election results==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Election
! Seats won
! ±
! Position
! First Pref votes
! %
! Government
! Leader
|-
![[1961 Irish general election|1961]]
| {{Composition bar|2|144|hex={{party color|National Progressive Democrats}}}}
| {{increase}}2
| {{increase}}4th
| 11,490
| 1.0%
| style="background-color:#FFCCCC" |Opposition
| [[Noël Browne]]
|}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Barberis, Peter, John McHugh and Mike Tyldesley, 2005. Encyclopedia of British and Irish Political Organisations. London: Continuum International Publishing Group. {{ISBN|0-8264-5814-9}}, {{ISBN|978-0-8264-5814-8}}
* {{cite book|last=Manning|first=Maurice|date=1972|title=Irish Political Parties: An Introduction|location=Dublin|publisher=Gill and Macmillan|isbn=978-0-7171-0536-6}}

{{Historic Irish parties}}

[[Category:Defunct political parties in the Republic of Ireland]]
[[Category:Political parties established in 1958]]
[[Category:Political parties disestablished in 1963]]
[[Category:Socialist parties in Ireland]]
[[Category:1958 establishments in Ireland]]
[[Category:1963 disestablishments in Ireland]]