No blood as two Tanaistes play for a draw

POLITICAL debates are usually billed as blood sports, but more often than not they turn out rather like chess games: frosty handshakes followed by set opening positions, a few variations in the middle and, finally, stalemate (and then hours of expert analysis about who should have won).

From the moment last night when Mary Harney told us she was not going to "bite" Dick Spring, we swallowed our disappointment and accepted this would be one of the board games. Brian Farrell, looking like a boxing referee in his red dickeybow, would not be called upon to separate the opponents.

But the clash of the Tanaistes still promised much. The meeting of Dick "Kasparov" Spring - brilliant, unpredictable, sometimes accused of arrogance - and Mary "Deep Blue" Harney - highly programmed, unemotional and relentlessly logical - was one for the purists.

In fact, the first decisive move had come even before Mary Harney's reassurance on the biting question. The prematch handshake has unnerved many an inexperienced opponent; and, here, Dick Spring appeared to seize the initiative, along with Mary's hand, by proceeding to be relentlessly charming (this is known as the Iveagh House gambit) throughout the long setpiece for the press cameras.

Mary Harney smiled through her Deep Blue eyes. But it was a defensive, screensaving sort of smile, and she looked relieved when the clammy handshake ended (leaving both protagonists rubbing their palms together).

When the debate began, the liveliest part came early on, in a very confusing exchange during which both sides accused the other of being willing to go into power with anyone.

In an impressive display of coolness under pressure, the two politicians seemed to remember exactly who they had and hadn't attempted to negotiate deals with in 1992 and 1994, something few members of the voting pubic could now do.

Chess games are often decided by an imaginative exchange of pieces. In this case, Ms Harney had already tried the gambit, even before she got to the board. But only time will tell whether her sacrificed Tanaiste's office will result in the capture of her opponent's State car.

Instead, the most telling exchange concerned the PDs' plans to cut public service jobs. But, once this passed, so did any excitement.

In vain, we hoped for a flurry of unprepared moves. In fact, we were quickly into that well known middle game, where both players make and repeat the famous "Tony Blair" and "Margaret Thatcher" moves without reaching a conclusion. As surely as a handshake, this signalled that the two sides were settling for a draw.

Dick Spring looked calm and anything but arrogant afterwards, refusing to claim victory, but again seizing on his opponent's use of the word "explore" in connection with the public sector jobs cut.

In the fastest move of the night, however, Mary Harney was gone, leaving both press and RTE security to wonder how she could have escaped the precincts of the building so fast.