Taoiseach won’t appear on ‘Frontline’ treaty TV debate

Taoiseach Enda Kenny will not appear on RTÉ’s Frontline debate on the EU fiscal compact treaty next Monday.

Amid claims by the no side that he is running scared from television debates, having refused to go on a TV3 debate this week, Mr Kenny will not take part in the showdown between both sides, which will be presented by Pat Kenny.

Instead, RTÉ bosses are hoping the Taoiseach will take part in a Prime Time debate the following Tuesday, just two days before the May 31 referendum.

Prime Time will feature no audience, unlike The Frontline on May 21, and is thought to be more acceptable to Mr Kenny’s advisers.

“The effort was to get him to Prime Time. He was never going to do two. And with no audience, it’s more controllable,” said a senior station source.

A spokesman for Mr Kenny confirmed last night he would not be attending The Frontline debate. “It was never a proposition,” he said.

The Frontline will feature two senior figures each from the yes and no camps. A spokesperson for Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore could not say if he would attend. Sinn Féin confirmed its deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald would attend. Fianna Fáil will not be participating. It is understood that Declan Ganley, campaigning for a no vote, will be present.

Yes and no supporters will be split half and half in the audience while experts and others who declare will feature in the front row.

Sinn Féin finance spokes-man Pearse Doherty yesterday challenged Michael Noonan, the finance minister, to a debate ahead of the May 31 vote.

Mr Doherty was speaking at the party’s launch of a programme for its conference in Kerry next week. It will feature 200 motions, including debate on the economy and job creation.

Two motions will centre on abortion, which senior members of Sinn Féin are expected to oppose. Another will challenge trade unions to review their contributions to Labour, with Sinn Féin claiming these donations are going towards an ‘austerity’ government.

The party is expected to use the two-day conference to attack the referendum, with voters going to the polls just a few days later.

Unlike other major parties who have held their conferences this year, Sinn Féin will not release their party’s accounts until after the event. A spokesman said the accounts would be released in mid-June.