Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald has said "words fail me" after Monday night's episode of Claire Byrne Live.
The show centred on the party that Mary Lou leads and said in the build-up to the show that "Claire will take a detailed look at the rise of Sinn Féin. Joining Claire will be Sinn Féin voters on why they support the party and also critics of the party telling why they don’t want them in power."
But many people were unimpressed with the episode, no more so than the Sinn Fein leader.
After the show, she said on Twitter: "Words fail me. Good night. @RTE."
Others shared the sentiment of Mary Lou, labelling the debate "brutal" and asked why it was happening.
One viewer said: "What kind of country do we live in where our national broadcaster can host a debate on why you shouldn’t vote for the opposition??? genuinely can’t believe that’s just happened, I mean we know there’s a bias but that’s just another level."
The show itself was a debate on why many people now vote for Sinn Fein and why those against the party think it's a bad idea.
26-year-old Jake Rea, a Sinn Fein member, told the show: "I live at home with my mother, I vote for Sinn Fein, I'm also a member of Sinn Fein, I believe that Sinn Fein best represents working-class people and working-class communities and they offer hope for my generation, something the government fails to do and especially when it comes to housing."
Arguing against Jake, another audience member Mairead Hennessy said: "I can see people 10 to 15 years younger than me who aren't able to do what I was able to do at that age, buy a house and that.
"My own view is that I wouldn't vote for Sinn Fein but I do see that they are speaking to younger people in a way the other parties are not.
"I wouldn't vote for Sinn Fein simply because I'm 40 years-old, I grew up in Dublin so I wasn't impacted by the troubles but I grew up in an era where the troubles were on the news every night of the week, so for me I can't separate the Sinn Fein of that era from the Sinn Fein now, that's just my own view."
Housing was the other big issue on the night and Eddie Hobbs was a guest on the show to discuss Sinn Fein's plans on how to solve the current crisis.
He told Claire Byrne: "It's quite clear from the Sinn Fein manifesto that we are going to eventually destroy the engine of the economic growth that we've got.
"The idea we can fix the housing problem but push all of this taxation through is a nonsense."
Hitting back at that, Sinn Fein's Matt Carthy said: "It's not true. Sinn Fein have put forward on an annual basis alternative budget propositions to government that outline how we can actually make a difference in terms of housing provision...healthcare, how we can actually fund all that."
Sinn Fein TD John Brady who was watching at home added: "So #RTÉ bring on Eddie Hobbs to attack Sinn Fein and warn about our ‘threat’ to the economy. Not sure he’s the best to give any financial advice, or indeed political advice, how’s Renua going?"
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