Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny has said he is not in favour of a proposal by the new Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin that there should be a three-way television debate between the main party leaders during the general election campaign.
Mr Kenny said Mr Martin was in "no position to dictate the trend of the general election" and his first act as Fianna Fáil leader was to seek to exclude other party leaders, even those who had passed them in the polls - a reference to Sinn Féin's Gerry Adams.
Mr Martin has today written for a second time to Mr Kenny over the plan for live debates. The new Fianna Fáil leader threatened to push ahead with two way debates with Labour leader Eamon Gilmore unless Fine Gael comes on board.
Speaking this morning, however, the Fine Gael leader said he was happy to partake in a five-way televised debate with the leaders of all the political parties, in either English or Irish.
"There is no Taoiseach contesting this election. If we are going to debate the issues, all the leaders are going to be involved," he said.
Speaking after addressing the Edelman Trust Barometer conference in the Westbury Hotel, Mr Kenny was repeatedly asked if he ruled out a three-way debate as proposed by Mr Martin.
He responded: "What Micheál Martin is trying to do here is to exclude leaders from debate. I'm a person who always favours inclusivity. From his point of view, his party, he has nothing to offer in terms of policy."
Mr Kenny said traditionally the Taoiseach and the potential alternative taoiseach were involved in debates, but as there was no taoiseach taking part in the debates this time around, the normal rules did not apply.
He accused the new Fianna Fáil leader of seeking to conduct the election in the television studios because he was afraid to face the people on the doorsteps.
"The reason for that is that Fianna Fáil canvassers do not want to knock on the doors of the houses of the people of Ireland because of the wreckage they have inflicted on in recent years. Fianna Fáil needs to get back to reality and feel the anger of people at what that Government has done to their lives."
When asked if he was reluctant to get involved in a three-way debate because he would be perceived to be weak at debating, he responded: "I have already said in as far as I'm concerned that if we are going to be inclusive and talk about policy issues then all the party leaders should be involved. From the point of view of the Fianna Fáil party, given where they are now, they have nothing further to add."
Mr Kenny said Mr Martin was complicit in the situation that Ireland find itself in. He said the Irish people were denied the truth about the International Monetary Fund (IMF) coming into the country and he as Minister for Foreign Affairs was "centrally involved in those discussions".
Mr Martin said today he was amazed at the stance being taken by Mr Kenny and suggested that he was reluctant to face him in a debate.
TG4 has invited the three to a debate in Galway at 10am on February 16th. “Whether or not you attend, I intend being there at that time,” Mr Martin wrote to Mr Kenny in his second letter today.
“Should you insist on refusing to more debates than is possible in a five way format, I will propose to Eamon that we proceed to arrange a series of debates between ourselves.” Mr Martin said he had no doubt broadcasters would be able to arrange a format to then give Mr Kenny and other leaders coverage.
He said he would not compromise on the basic duty to engage in meaningful debate. “We need real debates where the people can judge whether we can think on our feet, not scripted sound bite debates where there is so little time for each participant,” the Fianna Fáil leader said.
“Since you and Eamon say you wish to govern together, even though you have so many fundamental policy differences, it is critical that the Irish people have the opportunity to see those differences debated before the election.”
Green Party leader John Gormley said voters will lose out if the election debates are restricted to three parties, and that political accountability would be "hampered".
"Several recent elections resulted in people from parties other than these three holding senior government jobs with a direct impact on citizens' daily lives," the Green Party leader said today.
“The reality is that under our system people from all five parties could head up important government departments after the next election. For this reason it is important that the voters get to hear from all of them on an equal footing," he added.
Mr Gormley said reducing a central part of the election campaign to a presidential style "beauty contest" further damaged voters' interests.
Sinn Fein Dáil leader Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin said the election was not an X-Factor show.
“Micheal Martin is certainly running scared. Because what he wants over the next three weeks is a campaign that is fought out on the airwaves, in terms of either the television or the radio,” Mr Ó Caoláin said.
Posting on Twitter, Socialist Party candidate for Limerick city Cian Prendiville, who is running under the United Left Alliance grouping, said the alliance should be included in any debate. He said it would win "way more" seats that the Greens "who might not win any".
Yesterday, Mr Martin wrote to other main party leaders challenging them to a series of televised debates during the general election campaign.
Mr Martin wrote to Mr Kenny and Mr Gilmore suggesting at least five debates to be broadcast on RTÉ, TV3, TG4 and other channels in the run-up to polling day. He proposed two three-way debates, one at the outset and one at the end of the campaign; a number of head-to-head debates; and a debate in Irish on TG4.
In the letter, dispatched within an hour of the result, the new party leader contended the approach in Ireland to TV debates was too conservative, saying there were too few and they tended to occur very late in the campaign.
He said “international experience” had suggested a formula for fair debates, a reference to the debates involving three leaders during the British general election.
Additional reporting PA