Candid, combative and entertaining, Conduct Unbecoming is a compelling account of an extraordinary career. Desmond O'Malley leapt to prominence in 1970 as Jack Lynch's young and fiercely principled Minister for Justice. His role in the Arms Crisis, recalled here, earned him the enmity of Charles Haughey, whose leadership of Fianna Fáil he attempted first to prevent, then challenge for the best part of a decade.

Unable to arrest the party's slow retreat from what he saw as the high watermark of Jack Lynch's leadership, O'Malley was finally ejected from Fianna Fáil in 1985 following his acclaimed 'I stand by the republic' address. He would found the Progressive Democrats several months later.

‘Hard-hitting, opinionated and controversial’ Maurice Manning