Meeting on future of PDs put off until November

The Progressive Democrats' meeting to decide whether the party should live or die will not take place until November, following a decision of the organisation's National Executive last night.

However, the party has strenuously rejected charges that the holding of the meeting has been delayed, arguing that it pointed out from the beginning that it could be too difficult to bring all 4,000 members of the party together by the middle of October - the date first mooted for the gathering.

The National Executive agreed without any dissenting voice that the meeting should be held, following the recommendation from its two TDs and two senators that the party should wind up.

The party's leader, Senator Ciaran Cannon this week again repeated his view that the PDs no longer have a future, and, so far, there have been few, if any, conflicting voices from within the organisation - even though some are annoyed that the Parliamentary Party handled the issue in the way that it did.