Dublin
IRELAND'S live television debate last night between Prime Minister
Albert Reynolds and the leader of the Opposition, Mr John Bruton, was
compared to a US presidential debate involving George Bush and Ross
Perot -- but without Bill Clinton.
The missing voice was that of Mr Dick Spring, the leader of the Labour
Party, who is the popular choice for Prime Minister according to the
opinion polls.
Although Labour has no prospect of winning an overall majority in the
next parliament, it is expected to hold the balance of power after
tomorrow's general election.
Labour strategists were annoyed at the exclusion of Mr Spring from the
debate, in which Mr Bruton, the Fine Gael leader, secured a narrow win
over Mr Reynolds.
Mr Reynolds performed better than he had so far in the campaign,
getting the better of Mr Bruton on the details of economic policy and
job creation.
Mr Bruton accused Mr Reynolds of having destroyed his own Government
by tactlessly describing his junior partner, Mr Desmond O'Malley, of
being dishonest.
Mr Reynolds ridiculed Mr Bruton as an ineffectual politician who had
brought two governments down by presenting incompetent budgets in 1982
and 1987.
The 60-year-old Premier, fighting to reverse a downward slide in the
opinion polls for his Fianna Fail party, quoted from the autobiography
of Dr Garret FitzGerald, describing Mr Bruton as a truculent and
difficult person in government.
Mr Reynolds also said that Mr Bruton had not got on well with Mr
Spring, whom he was now hoping to entice into a ''rainbow coalition''.
Mr Reynolds claimed that Mr Bruton and Mr Spring had brought Ireland
to the verge of bankruptcy and were only rescued by being thrown out of
office in 1987 by the return of Fianna Fail.
On Northern Ireland, Mr Reynolds promised to resume the talks for a
political settlement, which he claimed were merely adjourned during the
election.
But Mr Bruton criticised Mr Reynolds for a lack of generosity by not
committing himself to removing Articles 2 and 3 of the Republic's
Constitution, which lay claim to jurisdiction over Northern Ireland.
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