Overview

• The clash unfolded on RTÉ Radio 1’s Drivetime, marking the first encounter between the remaining candidates after Fianna Fáil’s Jim Gavin left the race.
• Heather Humphreys said voters should want a president who has not insulted allies and claimed Catherine Connolly had offended Germany, France and the UK.
• Catherine Connolly called the allegation scurrilous, denounced the “normalisation of genocide,” and cited countries she said supported Israel and America’s role.
• Both candidates said the Defence Forces need greater support, with Humphreys defending her austerity‑era record while conceding earlier spending might have been warranted.
• Connolly described past repossession work as routine for an independent barrister and stated she would not hire anyone on the sex offenders register to work in Áras an Uachtaráin.