Ten leaders kitted out at RTÉ’s television studios for a the first major debate of the general election campaign, with blows being traded on policy and just good old fashioned politicking. Here are just a few of the standout moments from the debate: 1 - Focus on coalition options focus in Everyone broadly appears to be keeping their options open, while Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael both continue to rule out any coalition with Sinn Féin. However, Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín was straight out, criticising parties for not giving straight answers for coalition deals.
Mr Tóibín said that his party would not go in with Fine Gael or the Green Party. He hits out at Mr Harris in particular, saying that if he was head of a private company he would be fired, citing waste of money within government. Independent Ireland leader Michael Collins kept his council on who he’d like to see as the next Taoiseach out of Simon Harris, Micheál Martin and Mary Lou McDonald.
People Before Profit leader Richard Boyd Barrett says that his party wants to see a government without either Fine Gael or Fianna Fáil, calling for a “left government for the first time in the history of this State”. 2 - Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil sync up One Fine Gael source even went as far as to describe the two leaders as the “sensible adults in the room”. Perhaps we’ve now reached the end of the phony war, as it has been described over the last week.
However, it may play to Sinn Féin’s advanta.
