Election 2024: Six things to look out for ahead of the final debate
Harris Micheál Mary And Simon Mcdonald Lou Martin,
The final debate of the election campaign takes place on Tuesday night with Simon Harris, Micheál Martin and Mary Lou McDonald going toe to toe.
Here are six things to keep an eye out for.
Much has been made about the Taoiseach's manner in dealing with care worker Charlotte Fallon in a Cork supermarket last week, but close observers of Simon Harris have sensed that the campaign is draining him.
They point to other incidents on the campaign trail and his performance in the 10-way debate last week, where he was criticised for the manner of his rebuke to Katie Hannon on the National Children's Hospital.
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Some in the party put the Kanturk incident down to tiredness and said that it was a one-off. But if the Taoiseach is to avoid the public perception that the person seen in the now ubiquitous clip is who he is, he needs to be in better form on Tuesday evening.
That's not to say he has to be passive, but there will be swathes of undecided voters tuning in ready to decide their voting intentions based on his demeanour.
This creates a high-wire act for Mr Harris. He has to defend his record without seeming defensive, and attack Sinn Féin's plans without seeming aggressive. It is a tough needle to thread.
While this is a three-way debate, it is in one way a handicap match, a 2v1 brawl.
Mary Lou McDonald will happily pitch this as the forces of continuity versus the force of change. The Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael leaders have had effectively eight years of coalition — you can argue the semantics of confidence and supply — and it will be hard for them to decouple that with just three days left in this campaign.
We saw last week that the pair often rowed in behind one another, but only when it was time to criticise Sinn Féin. It will be interesting to see how often the tactic of teamwork will be deployed and whether it will be used against Ms McDonald more than to sell the outgoing coalition record.
Again, it is a strategy that comes with risk. Pour it on too thick and the Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael leaders risk giving credence to the Sinn Féin argument that the two parties will do anything to keep Mary Lou McDonald from the Taoiseach's office. Too little, and they risk looking deferential to Sinn Féin.
The coalition parties have sought to make the last 10 days of the election a choice: stability or change, seasoned veterans versus rookies, track record managing the economy or the promise of better.
With Donald Trump headed back to the White House with a greater mandate and a Cabinet more willing to train its sights on Ireland's corporation tax take, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael's core message has been that they alone are experienced enough to navigate the choppy economic waters that could lay ahead.
Ms McDonald on Monday said that the pair were peddling in "doomsday scenarios", but polls have shown her party's weakness is public perception of its ability to handle the economy.
Ms McDonald must look assured and capable in front of a national TV audience in order to win over voters who might be reluctant to hand herself and Pearse Doherty the purse strings.
Virgin Media political correspondent Gavan Reilly this week posted on X that leading the polls in the last week is like leading in the last lap of the video game Mario Kart — "there are blue shells everywhere".
The reference, if you're unfamiliar, is to a power-up that other players can get, a blue turtle shell that only hits the person leading the race and cannot be dodged.
With Fianna Fáil having hit the front in yesterday's Irish Times poll, will Micheál Martin be checking his rearview? Does he, to switch parlances, take the ball to the corner and try to kill time?
Or does he attempt to hammer home his party's lead and make a last pitch for a number of seats that would ensure he returns to the Taoiseach's office?
The worst thing the Tánaiste could look like is an also-ran, allowing the argument to be Fine Gael versus Sinn Féin, but overegg the pudding and he could look like someone who expects to win the election.
The personality is well set. We will get arguments based on outlook and ideology.
But what the public will want to know tonight is what the parties have planned and how they hope to achieve them.
The horse race element of the election is coming to a close, but the final hurdle is getting the public to buy into the manifesto which you've slaved over.
Differences on health, housing and the economy will be debated with the winner the person who sells their wares best.
TV debates are good television (usually) because there are pitfalls and booby traps everywhere. You never know what will become a meme or a viral post or capture the imagination.
In 2011, few could have predicted that a tweet from a fake account about Sean Gallagher could have altered the last days of the presidential election.
Those of us who will watch tonight will do so wondering whether this debate will have a knockout moment or if it will do anything at all to alter the course of the election.