5 things to watch in leaders' last televised debate

The final televised debate of this General Election campaign, involving the leaders of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Sinn Féin, is under way.

With a campaign that has told us little and an outcome impossible to predict, the debate is being keenly watched for a decisive moment that could swing this election in one of their favour. There is a lot at stake.

Here are some things to look out for:

1. A new empathy

Fine Gael has made this campaign all about Simon Harris, and he now has an image problem.

Footage of him turning away from a care worker in Kanturk on Friday prompted the Social Democrats to brand Fine Gael "the nasty party" and allowed others to cast it as distant and aloof from the concerns of ordinary people - a persona Mr Harris had worked hard on changing since he replaced Leo Varadkar as leader.

Put down to tiredness by some of those close to him, his tetchiness also came across in last week's ten-way debate when he firstly rebuked the claim that he signed the contract for the National Children’s Hospital, as Minister for Health, and secondly abruptly prompted moderator, Katie Hannon, to "continue".

If he is to convince undecided voters that the Kanturk encounter was, as he has insisted, not who he really is, then he will have to strike a warmer tone in tonight’s debate.

It will be very tricky to balance this against the need to defend his record against what will be heavy attacks from the others and particularly when the debate gets spikey.

He will be needing as much "new empathy" as "new energy" if he is to rescue the Fine Gael campaign.

2. Two against one

Sinn Féin’s Mary Lou McDonald was a last-minute addition to the RTÉ leaders’ debate in 2020, and playing the role of outsider who had to fight her way to the table did her no harm.

This time she is very much in the club of three bigger parties, and there was no question of her place at the podium.

But, to her benefit, she will be against two leaders who have served in a coalition government together and will be defending a shared record.

In last week’s ten-way debate, the leaders of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael frequently rowed in behind each other when it came to attacking Sinn Féin.

The temptation will be there for them to do the same again, particularly as they will try to outdo each other in attacking Sinn Féin in order to appeal to their respective party bases.

But that comes with the risk of appearing to gang up on her - something that would amplify her message that she is the agent of change against the establishment "old boys club".

It would allow her to claim the two parties would do anything to keep Sinn Féin out of power.

3. Dirty linen

While this has been a relatively drama-free campaign, there has been plenty of scandal - some low level, some more serious - that is likely to come out in the wash tonight.

Leaving aside individual party candidates, members and workers and their actions - and we don’t know how serious the mudslinging could become - one issue that is likely to emerge is Fine Gael’s reported contact with RTÉ over the video of the Kanturk exchange last Friday.

Fine Gael has said there was nothing inappropriate with the contact, which Mr Harris said aimed to put context "and further detail around what my party intended to do around carers and around disability services".

But Sinn Féin has called on Fine Gael to clarify whether it was "leaning" on RTÉ over the video with Pearse Doherty saying it was a "bit rich" of Fine Gael to criticise Sinn Féin for wanting an inquiry into the broadcaster’s coverage of Gaza and then, days later, putting pressure on RTÉ.

Fine Gael, he said, had a brass neck.

Expect more back and forth on this, and other controversies lurking in the parties’ closets. To quote one of Mattie McGrath’s more infamous Dáil contributions, "when all the dirty linen is washed, we’ll see the clothes hanging out on the line and they’d be fairly well stained and needing the washing machine or Daz or whatever they call it now".

4. Bah humbug

Simon Harris took to Instagram earlier to set out his priorities for tonight’s debate which, unsurprisingly, include the cost of living and infrastructure.

But with the spirit of Scrooge largely absent from this campaign, he had a chilling warning about the ghosts of the economy past, present and future.

"The world is changing. There are headwinds out there," he cautioned.

He promised to set aside €50 billion over the course of the next government, not quite for Tiny Tim, but "so that my children and your children will never have to live through the austerity that our generation had to live through".

Stirring the ghosts of the economic past, he reminded us that "it's 14 years this month since our political predecessors crashed the economy and the IMF were in town. We must never ever forget that!"

Expect him to rely heavily tonight on this two-pronged attack on both Fianna Fáil - which oversaw the economic crash and Sinn Féin which - he will argue - would fail to save for a rainy day.

Fine Gael will also try to stir fears over a Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin coalition. This is a possibility if they come in first and second. But Micheál Martin insisted their policies are not compatible. He will be driving that message home tonight for fear of turning some of his own supporters away to Fine Gael.

Sinn Féin on the other hand, says that Fianna Fáil seems hellbent on returning Fine Gael to office which Mary Lou McDonald said is "unfathomable".

But she will need to demonstrate in tonight’s debate that there is a path to power for her. No party has enough candidates for an overall majority. If Sinn Féin wants to be the agent of change, how can it realistically form a coalition that will deliver it?

5. The 'damp squid'

A lot is riding on this debate. Pundits are saying it will be crucial. This is largely because this campaign has been a bit of what former Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern - a skilled debater and election strategist extraordinaire - might have called a "damp squid".

It has so far not had a decisive moment or a big swing that would determine its outcome. So surely tonight will provide it?

Will there be a knockout moment or a snare that someone walks into, that will finally ignite this campaign?

Or will the debate be in-keeping with the campaign itself: aimless, uninspiring and impossible to tell who's winning?

This is a campaign that participants and observers have found hard to read.

Will tonight give a clearer picture, or is the emerging shape of Irish politics to remain elusive until the last votes are counted?