Election debate: A messy first half with over-weening presenters

If you are eating your porridge now, please pause for a second, put down your spoon, until after we share the view of our Arts and Culture Editor Hugh Linehan on last night’s live party leaders’ debate on Virgin Media News.

About half way through the 90 minute shoutfest, Hugh sent out this tweet:

“It sounds like whoever is producing this shitshow finally told Statler and Waldorf to chill,” a reference to the two grumpy old men in The Muppets.

You can resume your porridge now.

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Hugh’s tweet was a cruel put-down but it contained a ring of accuracy. The first half, in particular, was very messy.

And those who drew most ire and fury on social media (and there as lots of it) were not the seven party leadership representatives but rather the presenters, Ivan Yates and Matt Cooper.

Both were over-interventionist and over-weening. Yates also grandstanded and began pompously, declaring all seven were “charlatans and chancers”.

He later justified this attitude on the basis the he is not a journalist (but, in fact, he is these days, no matter how hard he tries to deny it).

In the second half it all calmed down and there were some substantive and even reflective contributions. The leaders were even able to talk without an opponent or presenter talking over them.

My view was there was no clear winner, but four of the seven (Leo Varadkar, Micheál Martin, Mary Lou McDonald and Eamon Ryan) probably emerged with most credit.

But it was marginal.

The other three (Brendan Howlin, Catherine Murphy and Mick Barry) stayed the course and got solid points across.

All in all, it was less clear-cut than in the other TV debate between seven party leaders on Monday night. I met a colleague who thought Howlin had done really well last night, and Murphy too. The differences though were infinitesimal and based on subjective viewpoints.

My colleague Fiach Kelly, in his analysis, was of the view that Martin was the winner.

There are a few other points to note from the debate. Ryan was far more prominent and assertive than on Monday.

While some of his points were not fully articulated, he was strong where it mattered, on the subject of climate change, and his call for radical action.

I though Varadkar had a good night. He was cool-handed throughout and made some salient points. He was particularly good on the economy and was far more emollient with McDonald than Martin.

I thought Martin also had a better night than on Monday, without hitting anything out of the park. He was more successful in putting across his key message that Fianna Fáil will get things done quickly.

“We are not going to hang around for 10 years,” he repeated to good effect.

McDonald was more muted, but deliberately so. No interruptions. No muscularity. No out-shouting. The party is cruising right now. No need to frighten the horses.

She is a polished performer. At one stage, she told Martin to have the courtesy to allow her finish her answer without interruption. That was deliciously ironic.

On Monday night on RTÉ, she interrupted and harangued Martin constantly and jostled her way into just about every contribution he made.

She still got a lot of time last night, and in the “testy” exchanges with Martin, came out more or less equal. She got her message of change across and her contribution on the RIC and a United Ireland would have appealed to her base.

Martin blamed Sinn Féin for putting back Irish unity 40 years because of its campaign of violence, through a very sectarian campaign.

She rebutted: “There is nobody in the North who needs a homily from Micheál Martin on the Troubles.

“With Micheál Martin it is always the jibe . . .”

Ryan was easily the most improved performer. He was very prominent last night and probably spoke as much as any other individual. He was mostly on point, though I must confess, I found one or two of his arguments hard to follow.

Like Monday night’s debate, the presenters and others deferred to him on climate change.

His big pitch here – “It has to mean we are changing the way we do everything” – was far more effective last night than on Monday.

Howlin was solid but needed to be a bit more than solid. He made good points on housing and on health. He came across as reasonable and did not get involved in any nasty scraps, aside from a cut at Martin’s beloved National Treatment Purchase Fund, which he said was a “con job”.

Murphy also professed herself happy at the end of the night. She is not the most dynamic speaker and in the first half, she got little chance from the presenters to finish her answers.

She was good on Sláintecare, though.

Barry talked as if he were involved in another debate, on another plane. He had a few points to make, including a strong contribution on mental health, and he made them robustly.

But they were not part of the to-and-fro. It was almost as if his points were all specially quarantined.

Highlights of Irish Times coverage

Our Election Live blog runs on irishtimes.com every weekday from 8.20am.

Our Election Daily podcast looks at the battle for seats in Mayo.

Miriam Lord accompanied the Three Amigos (Shane Ross, Finian McGrath and John Halligan) canvassing in Dublin Rathdown. It's a fun and funny piece.

Stephen Collins on how the focus of the campaign may shift in the final week.

Fiach Kelly reports on the row over whether or not Phil Hogan stealthily intervened in the election campaign.

Playbook

It’s Brexit day.

The Taoiseach will give a speech on Brexit at 9.30am at the Institute of International and European Affairs and then lead a 10.40am Fine Gael Brexit conference at the same venue.

Later in the evening he will speak at a Fine Gael rally in Ballincollig, Co Cork, at 8.30pm.

To continue the Brexit theme, Leo has finally found the people who get up early in the morning. Simon Coveney, Paschal Donohoe and Helen McEntee were due to inspect the new Brexit facilities at Dublin Port at the ungodly hour of 5am.

More on Brexit: Howlin will speak about it at 11.15am and McDonald at 2.45pm.

Fianna Fáil is briefing on rent and home ownership at 12pm with Darragh O’Rein and Mary Fitzpatrick.

The Social Democrats will launch their manifesto at 11am at the Woollen Mills in Dublin city Centre.