Tonight saw Claire Byrne Live host the first televised debate ahead of this month’s presidential election.
Only four of the six candidates — Peter Casey, Liadh Ní Riada MEP, Senator Joan Freeman and Gavin Duffy — were in attendance, as incumbent president Michael D. Higgins and businessman Sean Gallagher declined to participate.
For the most part the debate was amicable enough, with candidates quizzes on whether they would refuse to meet foreign leaders, how much they’ve spent on their campaigns and what their priorities would be in office.
There was minimal cross-talk and very little acrimony between the candidates, with Peter Casey even saying he would appoint Joan Freeman onto his Council of State.
However, the meandering conversation all got a bit much for one spectator, who interrupted during one of Peter Casey’s answers. Byrne had been questioning Casey on whether or not his riches gave him an unfair advantage over the ordinary citizen when a voice from the audience yelled “I’ve had enough!” The audience member continued to shout over Peter Casey, who seemed to recognise her.
There was originally no plans for an ad break during the show, but Byrne was forced to take the show off air for a matter of minutes.
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