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No Six way Debate
Read more about: Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, Green Party, Labour Party, Progressive Democrats, Sinn Féin
Great to see that FG FF and Labour are so interested in giving Ireland the most open election we deserve that they have pulled out of the 6 way party debate on RTE. Why because they don’t like the format. You know what guys it is not about you it is about us. What ever format RTE propose should have been fine. But alas no. PR spin is more important then giving the electorate a choice. Seemingly Gerry Adams Michael McDowell and Trevor Sargent all agreed. Fair play to them boo to Enda, Bertie and Pat.
wow they’re not even going to get transfers now.
I quite liked the plan for the original series of debates. Back to the 2 and a half party state forumla then.
Simon, in all fairness a six way debate suggests that the various leaders have equal support, which they don’t. And how is Gerry Adams included when he isn’t even a candidate? I think Joe Higgins has more right to be there than Gerry.
Dan by that logic as Enda has 31 seats and bertie over twice that. he shouldn’t have to debate Enda either.
Very disappointing.
I can understand why Pinnochio woud run away, but surely Rabbitte would perform well in this sort of situation.
Patsh I think Pat was holding out for a one on one with Bertie by himself.
Oh dear, I was going to give my second preference to Labour. Not going to happen now. Not taking part in public debate is a dealbreaker for me.
Rabbitte’s just after doing the Week in Politics and Questions and Answers over the last two nights; he’s hardly scared of a debate!
I think Labour’s problem was the notion of being pitted head to head with a microparty such as the PD’s rather than their main target, FF.
6 egos all fighting for air time and all wanting to get their say in would severely limit the ability of any debate to cover more than a handful of issues. At most it should be a debate between the two candidates for Taoiseach. Sargent, Rabbitt & McDowell, Higgins & O’Caoileann should have no such aspirations (although Rabbitt is the most able leader in the Dail and it’s a shame he will never be an option for Taoiseach. Had he not tied himself to Kenny then a 3 way debate would be a possibility).
Adams is barely a citizen of this country, as a UK MP he isn’t an Irish public representive or resident within our borders so he can feck off back to his own country (the UK) and mind his own business.
I think Labour’s problem was the notion of being pitted head to head with a microparty such as the PD’s rather than their main target, FF.
So labours disillusions of grandeur. Are more important then a party leaders debate?
On a lighter note the public prefer real TV it would have been great - “Urde Big Boss”
In the “Dragons Den” Donald Trump Louis Walsh Madame
What prize could you offer ?
[i]I think Labour’s problem was the notion of being pitted head to head with a microparty such as the PD’s rather than their main target, FF.[/i]
That’s what annoys me, the ignoring of the smaller parties.
And to be honest, I’m not a fan of Rabbite, though I like the candidate in my area(Limerick East)
-is BBcode allowed here? or some html?
You like Jan O’Sullivan!! You’re easily pleased. There are a host of top class Labour TDs who will make excellent Ministers (Rabbitt, Howlin, Burton, Higgins, etc) but O’Sullivan is just marking time to retirement.
That’s a problem in Limerick East. Noonan & O’Sullivan are working on their pensions. O’Malley & O’Dea are making up regional ministeral representation with no real responsibility. Power is temporally occupying the floating seat although he is likely to keep it because his main rival O’Donnell was hand picked by Noonan over Scully because O’Donnell has no chance of winning and is therefore no threat to Noonan. In the bizzare absence of Scully Limerick East has to have one of the most mundane and boring lineups.
Yes, though it would in fact be more accurate to say I prefer her to most of the rest of the candidates. I’m hoping Forde-Brennan will get a seat, though I don’t think it’s likely
Unfortunately Forde-Brennan (Greens) is in a fight to get her deposit back so unless the film “The Day after Tomorrow” comes about in the next 22 days she won’t win a seat.
Limerick East is strange in that it bucks the voting patterns that have emerged in other urban centers in recent years. It has areas of high unemployment and poverty yet Sinn Fein IRA, who normally target this section of the community, have never performed well there even in local elections. Perhaps its a hangover from the murder of Gerry McCabe. At the same time it also has a high number of middle class urban voters who are just as disinclined to vote for the Greens even though they are hovering up votes from this grouping in Dublin, Cork & Galway. It appears the people of Limerick East like their TDs boring or at least that’s all they are given to vote for after Noonan stopped Kenny adding Scully to the ticket. The only thing that seems to be spicing up the election there is the slow descent of Noreen Ryan into paranoid madness.