Breaking the Mould

by Stephen Collins

Slight wear to edges of jacker and some dust marks on cover.

Genres: Politics

Hardcover

First published November 1, 2005

About the author

Stephen Collins, an Irish journalist and author, is a Political Correspondent with The Irish Times. He was previously political editor at the Irish newspapers The Irish Press, The Sunday Press, the Sunday Tribune, and most recently The Irish Times, which he joined in January 2006. He studied for a B.A. in History and Politics and an M.A. in politics at University College Dublin.

In 1983–84 Collins sat on the New Ireland Forum, a body designed to establish common ground amongst Irish nationalist political parties. His later criticisms of Charles Haughey — who also sat on the Forum — were, it has been said, primarily moulded by the complacency with which he had seen Jack Lynch's handling of the Arms Crisis of 1970.

Collins has published books on the Cosgrave political dynasty and, more recently, on the foundation of the Progressive Democrats political party, called Breaking the Mould.

Reviews

[Darragh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Until the last chapter I felt that this account of the first 20 years of the Progressive Democrats existence was purely based around its overarching narratives. (Anti-Haughey, European liberalism etc.) Stephen Collins is an excellent journalist and this is a well written account but up until the last chapter the depth of analysis i would have expected going into this just wasn’t there.

[Eoghan Dowling · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent breakdown of a party which many my age wouldn't recall too well. A fantastic read for anyone looking to get to grips with how much an influence Fianna Fáil had on Ireland from the 1970s through to early 2000s. Highly recommend.