Caught up with this latest debate last night. I had read about the controversy caused by Miriam O'Callgahan's questioning, but watched the affair with interest. It turned out to be much more compelling than I expected and I stuck with it for an hour and quarter out of its ninety minutes.
As for Martin McGuinness's questioning which had him spitting tacks - or should that be nails, geddit - in a post-debate one-to-one with O'Callaghan. Well, no one got an easy ride in this debate, but she did seem to go for McGuinness in particularly strident terms. There appeared also to be a bit of legerdemain with the debate rules. We were told that the questions were being timed to give everyone a fair go, but crucially, McGuinness seemed to be at the end of the line for one question, and at the beginning for the very next. This meant he was being buttonholed for what seemed like over ten minutes.
Not that I have little sympathy for McGuinness, whose candidacy is wholly about political posturing, but I felt a trick was being played here.
However, ultimately, a line was crossed with the 'Would you vote for this man?' question. McGuinness's past will always haunt him and his denials are effectively futile by the common conception, but in the context of a presidential debate, O'Callaghan's approach at that point came across as partisan and there seemed little appetite by the other candidates to sully themselves in the process.
As for Martin McGuinness's questioning which had him spitting tacks - or should that be nails, geddit - in a post-debate one-to-one with O'Callaghan. Well, no one got an easy ride in this debate, but she did seem to go for McGuinness in particularly strident terms. There appeared also to be a bit of legerdemain with the debate rules. We were told that the questions were being timed to give everyone a fair go, but crucially, McGuinness seemed to be at the end of the line for one question, and at the beginning for the very next. This meant he was being buttonholed for what seemed like over ten minutes.
Not that I have little sympathy for McGuinness, whose candidacy is wholly about political posturing, but I felt a trick was being played here.
However, ultimately, a line was crossed with the 'Would you vote for this man?' question. McGuinness's past will always haunt him and his denials are effectively futile by the common conception, but in the context of a presidential debate, O'Callaghan's approach at that point came across as partisan and there seemed little appetite by the other candidates to sully themselves in the process.
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