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On Monday evening, the three candidates for the Irish presidency gathered together for their first live debate on Virgin Media Television. But, was it a really a debate?

Rather than standing, Catherine Connolly, Heather Humphreys and Jim Gavin sat around a table and delivered a series of lines and scripts for over an hour. To many, it just appeared to be a longer version of Virgin’s regular weeknight politics show.

The conversation was largely polite, restrained and non-combative and ultimately made for quite dull TV.

How did the three presidential candidates fare in the live TV studio setting and who came out on top?

And what do the Irish presidential candidates need to change about their communication style to bring some spark to the race for the Áras and inspire us, the public, to cast our vote in their favour?

Today, on In The News, what does it take to win a presidential debate?

Lorcan Nyhan, head of training at the Communications Clinic who has previously worked with Irish politicians on presentation and communication, breaks down what the candidates need to change about their debating style to bring more energy and public interest to the campaign for president.

Presented by Sorcha Pollak. Produced by Declan Conlon and Andrew McNair. 

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