Eclectic bunch give us a taste of the debates to come

BENEATH the unusually warm September sunny skies, the seven hopefuls arrived full of gusto to the RTÉ studios for the first of the presidential debates.

Polite, composed and amicable, all squeezed into the crowded studio for the talk with presenter Sean O’Rourke.

Nobody was expecting all guns would be blazing. The gloves haven’t come off yet. But a few gaps in policies and personality traits emerged on air.