Kathy Sheridan: Do election debates matter anymore?
Mostly they demonstrate if a candidate can remember their lines or not

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin faces Taoiseach Leo Varadkar in an election debate tonight. File photograph: Leon Neal/AFP via Getty
Die Hard on the Doorsteps, the election 2020 series got a smart fillip on Monday night with a health debate that was actually enlightening. Hopeful even. How amazing is that?
We watched in wonder as five politicians discussed the most distressing, entrenched scandal facing the country with only the occasional witless attempt to knock political lumps out of each other. It’s a low bar but we have to start somewhere.