THE debate began with Ms Mary Harney and Mr Dick Spring making short opening statements.
Ms Harney said she wanted a debate with the Tanaiste on unemployment, taxation and crime. "I've already assured him I'm not going to bite him," she said.
While viewers might be becoming tired of politics, they had to make an important choice on Friday.
"I want to be part of the next government," she said. "I want to be the first woman to lead a political party into government, into a partnership government with Bertie Ahern, somebody I trust and respect."
She said that while the country was "booming" many were asking where is this Celtic Tiger?" There were 250,000 people unemployed and high taxes on work.
She wanted to be "part of a government that ends our two tier society, that narrows the gap between rich and poor". The fruits of economic boom should "go back to the workers who created that boom, particularly the PAYE workers".
Current welfare policies "strip so many people of their self worth, their self respect and their dignity".
Mr Spring said the Government had created 200,000 jobs in a short period. In 1992 he met mothers distressed about their children emigrating; now many young people were back working in the economy.
The Progressive Democrats wanted to shed 25,000 jobs in key services and save £700 million, "and damage the quality of life in the process", he said.
They wanted to "finance tax cuts for people who are already better off in our society", and sell off State companies and services.
He said there were now solid economic foundations to be built on by government and people in partnership.
"Policies which divide people Just don't work. Just look across the water at what happened over the last 18 years." Policies which united people were the way to build a fair and decent society.
Mr Spring's principal argument regarding the economy was the stability and prudent management compared to the situation in 1993, "when we had a currency crisis, we had huge inflation rates, we had mortgages that people couldn't afford".
"The record is not good in relation to taxation," Ms Harney said. She asked Mr Spring why "since Labour went back to Government all the PAYE taxpayers got was a penny. Yet in his first Budget he supported a tax amnesty for the elite and the tax cheats.
"Was that fair? Was that right? What workers was that helping?" she asked.
Mr Spring said that if the PD leader looked at the tax rate for 1993 to 1997, particularly for the last two years, it had been reduced. Ms Harney was making false arguments as the issue was what people were taking home in their pockets.
Pressed by Ms Harney about the tax amnesty when, she said, Mr Spring had pulled out of government with Fianna Fail over a High Court appointment, the Tanaiste said the reality was that the tax amnesty was the prerogative of the Taoiseach at the end of the day. Mr Spring said Fianna Fail pulled out of government with Labour.
He said Ms Harney in her manifesto made certain statements and after the meeting in the Green Isle Hotel with Bertie Ahern she had pulled back on those policies.
Ms Harney said the reason the PDs did not join Labour and Fine Gael in Government was because they would not compromise on fundamental issues. She was not interested in getting into power for the sake of it.
She said she wanted to nail a lie regarding the public sector. The manifesto had said there would be voluntary redundancies and natural wastage.
She wanted to see jobs going through voluntary redundancies and jobsharing, many women wanted that. She wanted to explore the public sector and to see how to save more for the taxpayer.
Mr Spring said she wanted to cut 25,000 public service jobs. If she removed jobs from libraries, and the fire services, the Garda, the reality was that she wanted to take 25,000 out of 62,000, and she could not do that out of retirements and natural wastage, he said.
Ms Harney asked Mr Spring if he accepted that she had stated when she spoke about the 25,000 jobs that there would be no compulsory redundancies. Ms Harney posed the same questions repeatedly.
Ms Harney said it was her policy that the jobs would go through retirements and natural wastage. She asked Mr Spring again if he accepted that she had stated in the manifesto that there would be no compulsory redundancies.
Mr Spring asked her if she wanted 25,000 jobs to go in the public sector. Ms Harney said Mr Spring was scaremongering. She said the Rainbow Coalition was "running scared and you're bad losers".
Mr Spring said he was not scaremongering. He said she had not worked well with Bertie Ahern. Bertie Ahern could not make up his mind about the two Marys.
Ms Harney said she would not dump on civil servants like this Government did when letters did not arrive on time.
She said Mr Spring sat in Government with Michael Lowry when he spoke of cosy cartels. Mr Spring said he would welcome her conversion to working to an agreement. She had asked about public spending and, at least under this Government, it was now down to 4 per cent. Ms Harney said it was 8 per cent.
Mr Spring said the State now had the lowest public expenditure of all the European countries. The Government had concentrated on health and the disabled and he would defend that.
Ms Harney said that people were isolated and marginalised. She wanted to do in Ireland what Tony Blair was doing in Britain. She wanted to look to see how the unemployed could be returned to the workforce by training and with dignity.
Mr Spring said he thought the leader of the PDs' policies were very much those of Margaret Thatcher. It was too harsh for this country. The PDs' policies were divisive and not suitable for this country and would do what Mrs Thatcher had done over 18 years.
Mr Spring said 200,000 jobs had been created and he wanted to build on that.
Ms Harney said one of the harshest things she had ever known was the situation of the late Brigid McCole. That was one of the harshest things the Government had dealt with. She was a compassionate person.
Ms Harney said she wanted to give everybody the opportunities she had been given by her parents. The PDs in government would place a heavy emphasis on primary education.
Forty per cent of school leavers were classed as educationally disadvantaged. She wanted the country to have a good standard of education, particularly at primary and preschool levels.
Mr Spring said he would be far happier to accept what Ms Harney was saying if she had not been in government from 1989 to 1992. Since then, Niamh Bhreathnach had had to put additional resources into primary education. "I accept we need more, but we had an awful lot of ground to catch up after 1989 to 1992."
On Northern Ireland, the Tanaiste said there was now a good opportunity, particularly with the arrival of Mr Tony Blair and Dr Mo Mowlam, who had indicated their desire to work with the Irish Government and all the parties in Northern Ireland. Ms Harney commended Dick Spring on what he had done in Northern Ireland. She hoped when the talks resumed today that we would see a better attitude from the unionists. There was a great desire for peace and she hoped Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness would use their influence to deliver a ceasefire.
Mr Spring said he believed there were people in Sinn Fein who wanted to have a peaceful Ireland and did not want their children to be brought up in another cycle of violence. But unfortunately "it seems there are a few hard men left". He hoped when he attended the talks in Belfast that people would have a different attitude than before and there could be a settlement acceptable to everybody.
Ms Harney said she was very hopeful and believed that the new Northern Secretary, Dr Mo Mowlam, would be an easy person to work with. She had an informal approach and appeared to appeal to the people of Northern Ireland.
Asked why people should vote for the PDs, Ms Harney said people wanted a stable government for the next five years and the only hope was a two party government of Fianna Fail and the PDs. The alternative was at least a four party government, or perhaps a 4 1/2 party government, including the Greens and Independents.
The PDs wanted to see small businesses being supported for a change, a new approach on crime including zero tolerance, and prudent management of the economy including controls on public spending. People wanted someone like her who was not interested in Mercs and perks and didn't need two offices. "I don't see why Dick needs two offices.
Mr Spring believed people should support the Rainbow Coalition. They had worked well together for a fair and decent society. Referring to the PD leader's "Mercs and perks" remark, he said he believed Ms Harney had a State car when she was a junior minister. Ms Harney denied this.
Mr Spring said she had also got herself a very good adviser when she had tackled the smog problem in Dublin.
Replying to the Tanaiste's remark about her use of an adviser, Ms Harney said Tim Collins - now a Labour Party candidate - had been hired by her because of his expertise. "I don't employ hacks."
She then called on Mr Spring to "stop the scaremongering and deal with the issues for the rest of the campaign". Mr Spring said he was not scaremongering. "I have never had any difficulty debating the issues in my 15 years and I will continue to do it," he added. The Rainbow Government had been successful over the past two years, whereas the alternative being put forward had not been tried and tested.
Ms Harney said Mr Spring had broken off relationships with several coalition parties in the past and she was happy not to be doing a deal with him. Instead, she would be working with Bertie Ahern, whom she trusted and respected.
Asked about how much influence they could have as leaders of smaller parties, Ms Harney said she recognised that a smaller party in government could not have everything its own way. And, unlike Fine Gael, she did not expected Fianna Fail to be "poodles" and to lie down in the face of every demand.
But it would be a good partnership, and the PDs had agreements with Fianna Fail on the major issues. The two would work much better together than Fine Gael and Democratic Left. Fine Gael, she added, had proposed the most extensive privatisation programme of any party.
Mr Spring said that Brian Cowen had said "if in doubt with the PDs leave it out". Dermot Ahern had said the PDs would take what they'd get. John Browne did not want them either. The two parties could not work together. He believed Mary Harney was an honest politician, but the policies she was pursuing were not suitable for this country.