As audiences can attest, it’s a zinger of a presidential debate, with Kieran Cuddihy, its moderator, kept busy by opinionated parties swapping testy arguments and contentious claims.
At the very least, Tuesday’s exchanges about the Áras election on The Hard Shoulder (Newstalk, weekdays) are far livelier than the underwhelming affair Cuddihy hosts on Virgin Media TV the night before, when the three presidential candidates meet in a lacklustre encounter.
For whatever Cuddihy’s radio discussion with the businessman Declan Ganley and Senator Gerard Craughwell may lack in nuance and policy, it makes up for in combativeness and controversy.
Ganley, following the unsuccessful presidential bid of his fellow conservative activist Maria Steen, urges would-be supporters to spoil their votes in protest at the supposed political uniformity of the “curated set of candidates”. Writing Steen’s name on the ballot paper or highlighting an issue such as, um, “uncontrolled immigration” is, he suggests, a “valid democratic option”.
Craughwell isn’t unsympathetic, agreeing that a cohort of the population may well feel unrepresented
Continue Reading on The Irish Times
This preview shows approximately 15% of the article. Read the full story on the publisher's website to support quality journalism.