1. Desmond Joseph O'Malley was an Irish politician who served as Minister for Industry and Commerce from 1977 to 1981 and 1989 to 1992, Leader of the Progressive Democrats from 1985 to 1993, Minister for Trade, Commerce and Tourism from March 1982 to October 1982, Minister for Justice from 1970 to 1973 and Government Chief Whip and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Defence from 1969 to 1970.
Desmond O'Malley served as a Teachta Dala for the Limerick East constituency from 1968 to 2002.
Desmond O'Malley founded the Progressive Democrats and served as the party's first leader from 1985 until 1993.
Desmond O'Malley retired from politics at the 2002 general election.
Desmond O'Malley was educated at the Jesuit Crescent College and at University College Dublin, from which he graduated with a degree in law in 1962.
Desmond O'Malley was married to Pat McAleer, who predeceased him in 2017.
However, as Hilda was still in shock because of her husband's sudden death she declined and instead, after a canvass of many O'Malleys, Desmond O'Malley was selected and he stood in the subsequent by-election to fill the vacant seat.
Desmond O'Malley was successful and was elected to Dail Eireann as a Fianna Fail TD for the Limerick East constituency.
Desmond O'Malley requested that Desmond stand aside in the 1969 general election in favour of her becoming the main Fianna Fail candidate, but Desmond refused.
Desmond O'Malley came third while Hilda finished fifth in the four-seat constituency.
The "Desmond O'Malley vs Desmond O'Malley" dynamic of what was a very acrimonious contest drew enormous interest and discussion, to the point of attracting international headlines.
Desmond O'Malley had a central role in the case for the prosecution against the government ministers Charles Haughey and Neil Blaney that arose from the Arms Crisis of 1970.
In 1970, Desmond O'Malley succeeded Micheal O Morain as Minister for Justice.
At age 31, Desmond O'Malley was the youngest Minister for Justice since Kevin O'Higgins who had presided over the tumultuous post-revolutionary period in Ireland in the 1920s following the Irish War of Independence and the Irish Civil War.
Desmond O'Malley introduced the Special Criminal Court, a juryless court presided over by three judges which tries cases of terrorism and serious organised crime, with the cited raison d'etre being to avoid witness intimidation.
Desmond O'Malley introduced the Forcible Entry Bill, brought in to counter student agitation over the demolition of valued buildings.
In 1974 Desmond O'Malley cast doubts over the Fine Gael and Labour brokered Sunningdale Agreement, declaring "Ireland is one Ireland, one nation, one country because God made it one".
Desmond O'Malley opposed the government's attempts to end the ban in Ireland of the sale of contraceptives.
Desmond O'Malley was appointed as Minister for Industry and Commerce at a time when Ireland's economic fortunes were going into rapid decline.
Colley and Desmond O'Malley retained their positions in the government, but O'Donoghue's department was scrapped.
Desmond O'Malley was appointed to the Cabinet as Minister for Trade, Commerce and Tourism.
Desmond O'Malley was on holiday in Spain at the time but rushed back to put his own name forward as a possible alternative to Haughey.
Haughey won an open vote by 58 votes to 22, with the result that those TDs who voted against Haughey, including Desmond O'Malley, became known as the Gang of 22.
Desmond O'Malley became isolated within Fianna Fail, with many of his supporters giving up hope of ever beating Haughey.
Desmond O'Malley strongly criticised this position and accused Haughey of stifling debate.
Fianna Fail opposed the bill, but Desmond O'Malley considered it a matter of conscience and wanted to support it.
Desmond O'Malley's speech was later praised as one of the best ever delivered in the Dail.
Immediately afterwards, Desmond O'Malley was contacted by a young Fine Gael activist, Michael McDowell, who encouraged O'Malley to found a new political party and offered any help he could give.
On 21 December 1985, Desmond O'Malley announced the formation of the Progressive Democrats.
Desmond O'Malley was joined by Mary Harney, and later by Fianna Fail TDs Bobby Molloy and Pearse Wyse and Fine Gael TD Michael Keating.
On 5 July 1989, Haughey and Desmond O'Malley agreed a deal for government, and Desmond O'Malley was appointed Minister for Industry and Commerce.
Desmond O'Malley told Haughey that the Progressive Democrats would pull out of the coalition and support a no-confidence motion tabled by the opposition unless Lenihan left the government or Haughey opened an investigation into the incident.
When it was revealed by Sean Doherty that Haughey had authorised the tapping of two journalists' telephones in 1982, Desmond O'Malley decided that the Progressive Democrats could no longer remain in his government.
In October 1993, Desmond O'Malley retired as leader of the Progressive Democrats.
Desmond O'Malley was succeeded by Mary Harney, one of the co-founders of the party.
In 1994, Desmond O'Malley ran for the European Parliament but was defeated by Pat Cox, a sitting MEP who left the Progressive Democrats to run as an independent when Desmond O'Malley was selected as the candidate to replace him.
Desmond O'Malley remained as a TD until his retirement from politics at the 2002 general election, when he was succeeded as TD by his cousin Tim Desmond O'Malley.
Desmond O'Malley's son Eoin O'Malley is a political scientist in the School of Law and Government at Dublin City University.
Ferriter took issue with a number of claims made by Desmond O'Malley particularly regarding the Arms Crisis.
Desmond O'Malley died on 21 July 2021 at the age of 82, having been in poor health for some time.