{"id":104459,"date":"2025-10-05T22:42:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-05T22:42:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/104459\/"},"modified":"2025-10-05T22:42:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-05T22:42:08","slug":"five-takeaways-from-sundays-presidential-debate-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/104459\/","title":{"rendered":"Five takeaways from Sunday\u2019s presidential debate \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The latest debate between the three presidential candidates was far livelier than their first lacklustre televised duel<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Independent candidate Catherine Connolly<\/a> continued to project the self-assured air she displayed in the Virgin Media debate last month, though arguably had a trickier time.<\/p>\n

Having largely stayed out of the fray in the previous debate, the one on RT\u00c9\u2019s The Week in Politics on Sunday saw Fine Gael\u2019s Heather Humphreys<\/a> getting more involved, interjecting and in particular criticising Ms Connolly.<\/p>\n

Jim Gavin<\/a> of Fianna F\u00e1il, a political newcomer, seemed more confident than in the previous TV battle, but he faced tough questions after a bruising week on the campaign trail.<\/p>\n

Here are five takeaways:<\/p>\n

1. Connolly targeted by rivals as apparent front-runner<\/b><\/p>\n

During the debate both Ms Humphreys and Mr Gavin threw barbs at Ms Connolly, who emerged at the weekend as the apparent front-runner in the race in a Sunday Independent\/Ireland Thinks poll. <\/p>\n

Ms Humphreys was first to have a go at Ms Connolly as the Independent candidate defended her hiring of a woman convicted of a firearms offence<\/a> to work in Leinster House for six months in 2019. <\/p>\n

The woman, Ursula N\u00ed Shionnain, had been a prominent member of socialist republican party \u00c9irig\u00ed<\/a> which campaigned against the Belfast Agreement. <\/p>\n

As Ms Connolly was quizzed by presenter \u00c1ine Lawlor on her level of knowledge of Ms N\u00ed Shionnain\u2019s \u00c9irig\u00ed membership status, Ms Humphreys chipped in saying: \u201c\u00c9irig\u00ed want to pull down the Good Friday Agreement.\u201d <\/p>\n

Ms Connolly responded, \u201cThey weren\u2019t the only group that was against the Good Friday Agreement,\u201d while insisting that she herself supports it. <\/p>\n

Mr Gavin raised other questions about the controversy later in the debate. <\/p>\n

Ms Connolly can expect to be the focus of more attacks from Fine Gael and Fianna F\u00e1il over the coming weeks, particularly if she retains her lead in polling.<\/p>\n

2. Gavin will have to clear up questions over his time as a landlord<\/b><\/p>\n

Mr Gavin\u2019s most difficult moment came when he was asked about a story that appeared in the Irish Independent at the weekend, detailing an allegation that a tenant in a property he previously owned was not refunded \u20ac3,300 in mistakenly overpaid rent. <\/p>\n

Presidential candidate for Fianna F\u00e1il, Jim Gavin, is questioned on RTE’s ‘The Week in Politics’ debate. Video: RTE <\/p>\n

He said he was \u201clooking into\u201d the matter.<\/a> \u201cIf it happened I\u2019m very sorry that it happened,\u201d he said. The issue dates back to 2009, which Mr Gavin said was a \u201cvery stressful time\u201d for him and his family as they had got into financial difficulty. <\/p>\n

He told reporters afterwards that he is \u201cstill gathering data and information, and when I have that, I will take comprehensive action, and I\u2019ll share that with you\u201d. <\/p>\n

3. Humphreys\u2019 Government record is where she faces most scrutiny<\/b><\/p>\n

The Fine Gael candidate has perhaps had the least campaign hiccups so far, but she has one thing the others do not \u2013 a 10-year record as a Government minister. <\/p>\n

While she points to this as part of her credentials for the presidency, it can also lead to awkward questions. <\/p>\n

Among other matters, she was challenged on the housing crisis<\/a> which rumbled on during her time in Government and especially on remarks by President Michael D Higgins in 2022 that it was \u201ca disaster\u201d<\/a>. <\/p>\n

She disputed a suggestion that anyone who agrees with Mr Higgins should not vote for her and said she has \u201chuge sympathy for people that can\u2019t get a house\u201d. <\/p>\n

Ms Humphreys said the State needs to do more in terms of housing, that \u201cbillions\u201d are being spent on it and \u201cit\u2019s important that we see results\u201d. <\/p>\n

4. Connolly has the edge \u2018as Gaeilge\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n

So we knew Ms Connolly is the only one of the three who has proficiency in the Irish language. She said, as Gaeilge, there should be at least one debate in Irish, even with subtitles. <\/p>\n

Mr Gavin could not say the same, while insisting he is \u201cpassionate\u201d about the language. \u201cWe all need to speak it when we get into office,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Ms Humphreys \u2013 who previously did not learn the language while she was minister for the Gaeltacht \u2013 said she would feel at a disadvantage in an Irish language debate. She did \u201ccommit to improving my Irish and being fluent in it\u201d if she becomes president. The debate reinforced how the Irish language is a string to Connolly\u2019s bow the others do not have.<\/p>\n

5. Time to retire the Trump question?<\/b><\/p>\n

Ms Lawlor \u2013 who had a good debate all round \u2013 found a different way to ask the candidates about the prospect of meeting Donald Trump<\/a> should they become president. She asked if they would seek to flatter the US president as other countries have. <\/p>\n

Ms Humphreys said she would meet him and \u201cwould talk to him about our values\u201d. <\/p>\n

Ms Connolly said she would not seek to flatter, but noted she had met \u201cmany\u201d dignitaries as Leas-Cheann Comhairle and would have \u201cno problem\u201d carrying out that part of the role. <\/p>\n

Asked if he would play golf with Mr Trump, Mr Gavin confirmed that he would if called upon to do so. <\/p>\n

The Trump question has come up multiple times on the campaign trail so now might be the time to retire it. We get it \u2013 they would all meet him. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The latest debate between the three presidential candidates was far livelier than their first lacklustre televised duel. Independent…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":104460,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[9,10,1921,356,18,63601,13,14,6,555,19,17,19487,11,12,15,16,5,59,1181,7,8],"class_list":{"0":"post-104459","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-breaking-news","9":"tag-breakingnews","10":"tag-catherine-connolly","11":"tag-donald-trump","12":"tag-eire","13":"tag-eirigi","14":"tag-featured-news","15":"tag-featurednews","16":"tag-headlines","17":"tag-heather-humphreys","18":"tag-ie","19":"tag-ireland","20":"tag-jim-gavin","21":"tag-latest-news","22":"tag-latestnews","23":"tag-main-news","24":"tag-mainnews","25":"tag-news","26":"tag-presidential-election","27":"tag-rte","28":"tag-top-stories","29":"tag-topstories"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104459","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104459"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104459\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/104460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}