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Covid regrets, Trump meet-and-greets and a lot of foxes: 5 things to know from the final debate
If you were hoping to learn something new in the final debate, you’ll probably be left disappointed.
LAST UPDATE | 22 Oct 2025
IF YOU WERE hoping to learn something groundbreakingly new in the final live head-to-head TV debate between Áras hopefuls Catherine Connolly and Heather Humphreys, you’ll probably be left disappointed.
During the RTÉ Prime Time debate, the candidates were questioned on many of the same talking points that have dogged their campaigns, such as Connolly’s work as a barrister, Humphreys not meeting with the mother of Shane O’Farrell, Connolly’s hiring of a woman convicted of gun offences.
There were a few cringeworthy, head-in-your-hands moments too.
So what did we learn?
Ten uses of the word ‘sorry’ in the space of four minutes
Humphreys has been questioned repeatedly throughout this campaign about her dealings with the family of hit-and-run victim Shane O’Farrell.
The 23-year-old was killed in 2011 in a hit-and-run by a man who should have been in State custody at the time. Humphreys was a local TD for Monaghan at the time of Shane’s death.
Shane’s mother Lucia, has said that she believes Humphreys is “not capable of being the president for the people of Ireland, when she can’t represent her own people in Monaghan”.
Presenter Miriam O’Callaghan put it to Humphreys that the “bottom line is that you didn’t bother to meet this mother… So you say you want to be a president for all of the people, but you didn’t meet such a deserving woman in your own constituency”.
“I’m really sorry that I wasn’t able to deliver what they wanted.”
— RTÉ Prime Time (@RTE_PrimeTime) October 21, 2025
Heather Humphreys apologies to the family of Shane O’Farrell who was killed in a hit and run near his home in 2011 and says she’s glad they got an official state apology.
WATCH:@rtenews | #rtept pic.twitter.com/wv6aWUU7Fc
When asked did she fail Lucia, Humphreys probably went further than she has in previous answers on this issue.
“I did my best, and I’m really sorry if she, you know, I’m really sorry that I wasn’t able to deliver what they wanted. But I’m glad, I really am glad, that they have got a state apology, and I’m sorry that that state apology wasn’t given when I was part of the government.”
We counted. In all it was the use of the word ‘sorry’ ten times in the space of just a couple of minutes.
Covid regrets
There is one thing the two candidates can agree on.
They both have regrets around the Covid restrictions.
In what was probably the newest piece of information to glean from the debate this evening, both regret endorsing some of the restrictions that were put in place during the pandemic.
It was the final question in tonight’s debate.
Humphreys began by saying that she was a minister at the time, and while the government was following medical advice, she thinks they should have found a way for people to visit their loved ones in hospital when they were dying.
Heather Humphreys says one of her regrets is that regulations during the Covid-19 pandemic prevented families from spending time with loved ones in their final days, adding the Government could have handled it better.
— RTÉ Prime Time (@RTE_PrimeTime) October 21, 2025
WATCH:@rtenews | #rtept pic.twitter.com/iOaHrWtQMr
“What really hits me hard is the fact that there were regulations there where, when your relative was dying, you couldn’t hold their hand, you couldn’t whisper something in their ear. And that stays with me, and I regret that, I really do, because I think we could have found some way.”
Connolly, nodding along, agreed with her opponent.
From day one, Connolly said she agreed with the government in relation to the restrictions.
Asked about personal regrets, Catherine Connolly says hers was agreeing with Government on lockdown restrictions during the Covid-19 pandemic. @rtenews | #rtept pic.twitter.com/GQk8ibOo9o
— RTÉ Prime Time (@RTE_PrimeTime) October 21, 2025
“I actually regret agreeing with that,” she said, stating: “I went [along] because the fear was so extraordinary that I went with that. Afterwards, I did not give support to the government… because the bond of trust was broken.
“They [the government] gave a commitment that would come back regularly in relation to the review of those restrictions. And that didn’t happen,” said Connolly.
She said her personal regret is that she agreed in the first place to the restrictions, saying she did so in “good faith”.
Connolly was then, as she is now, an Independent opposition TD.
‘There’s a lot of foxes around’
Humphreys has been questioned throughout this campaign about representations she made in an animal cruelty case, which has led to a discussion on fox hunting tonight.
During the debate, Humphreys leaned into her rural Ireland vote, repeating that it is a “rural pursuit”.
It was a term she repeated ad nauseum tonight.
While she said she doesn’t go fox hunting herself, she believes it is “part of our culture”.
“It’s part of our heritage and has been there for many, many years,” she said.
Presenter Sarah McInerney asked: “Do you think it’s cruelty to animals?”
“Well, it’s part of our heritage. Cruelty to animals, in my book, is somewhat different to fox hunting. It’s a rural pursuit and foxes, there’s a lot of foxes around, as we know, ” said Humphreys.
She added that once the “controls are in place and once the rules are abided by, I support rural pursuits”.
In case you missed it, she supports rural pursuits.
A bit more clarity on Connolly acting for the banks
Connolly was questioned about whether she was transparent enough when it came to her work as a barrister. It is a question that has followed the Galway TD around the country during her campaign.
She was asked why she did not answer numerous questions about whether she worked in repossession cases.
She responded by stating that she worked with credit institutions, but added that she wouldn’t specify the cases, citing her “duty of confidentiality”.
“Did she represent banks in helping them repossess Irish homes? I think Catherine needs to explain,” said Humphreys.
Connolly hit back by stating that Humphreys has refused to agree to motions to have a ban on evictions, but the former minister simply said that the independent candidate was avoiding the question.
In the end, Connolly said she had been as clear as she could be. She stated she worked for the financial institutions, and while she didn’t utter the word ‘repossessions’, the clear indication was she did work on such cases.
Humphreys probably could have pushed harder on the matter, but in the end, she seemed to be satisfied enough with the answer. But does it put the matter to bed two days out from polling day? We’ll have to wait and see.
Meet-and-greets in the Áras
While Connolly has said she will be a voice for all, she said that – depending on the scenario – she may not be using that voice to speak truth to power when it comes to Donald Trump and Gaza.
Asked if she would tell US President Donald Trump that the US enabled genocide in Gaza, Catherine Connolly said it would depend on the situation and “what’s on the agenda” adding she doubted Gaza would feature if she were to meet him.@rtenews | #rtept pic.twitter.com/tK5fHgkAxW
— RTÉ Prime Time (@RTE_PrimeTime) October 21, 2025
Questioned this evening on whether she would raise the issue of America’s support for Israel’s assault on Gaza with the US president, were she to host him at an event in Phoenix Park, she said:
“If it’s just a meet and greet, then I will meet and greet. If the discussion is genocide, that’s a completely different thing,” she said, adding that she doubted the issue of genocide in Gaza would be on the agenda if she were meeting Trump as President of Ireland.
All in all, a bit of a lacklustre debate. Nothing that blows the election wide open, by any means.
Now, with just a couple of days to go, its down to the public to decide.
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