Parlon resignation - Departure raises many questions

WHAT little remains of the dwindling Progressive Democrats has been dealt a huge body blow with the surprise decision of former junior minister and party president Tom Parlon to quit politics.

Though he had received a “right kick in the backside”, as he put it himself, when he lost his Dáil seat in the general election, nobody could have anticipated that the man widely expected to become PD leader and a senator would simply walk away from the waning party to take a top job in the private sector.

From an ethical standpoint, people are looking askance at his decision to head the powerful Construction Industry Federation. The Labour Party has sharply criticised the move, raising questions about a “serious potential conflict of interest”.