A GENERAL ELECTION debate will take part in the Button Factory in Dublin tonight, hosted by Vincent Browne, David McWilliams and Paddy Cullivan.

The Re:Public 2011 event will be attended by representatives from all of the country’s main parties as well as independents, and was set up by Dublin musician Candice Gordon out of frustration at the nature of traditional political events.

Gordon told TheJournal.ie: “I’ve never been political before, but over the past summer the rage was building up inside me. I went to some events and checked in on forums – but I felt there was this cloud of confusion”, she said.

“The events I went to seemed to be very focused on a particular demographic – and it seemed that it was almost a hobby for some people to attend just so they could stand up and pontificate,” she said, “So I decided to tailor the type of event that I would enjoy or my friends would enjoy”.

Gordon says that the event will be fast-moving and focus on audience participation; candidates will have limited time to speak so will have express themselves “quickly and clearly” she says.

The audience will be able to be involved and ask questions in a number of ways, either speaking directly into a roving mic, by writing down questions, or by tweeting. The event will also be streamed live.

Attendees:

Fianna Fail’s   Dublin West –  David McGuinness

Fine Gael’s  Dublin South East - Lucinda Creighton

Labour’s  Dun Laoghaire - Ivana Bacik

Green Party’s Dublin Mid West - Paul Gorgarty

Sinn Fein’s Dublin South East – Ruadhán Mac Aodháin

People Before Profit’s Dublin South –  Nicola Curry

Worker’s Party’s Dublin Central – Malachy Steenson

Fis Nua’s  Dublin Central  Liam Johnston

Socialist Party’s Dublin Mid West –  Rob Connolly

New Vision Independent  Dublin North West – Michael Loftus

Independent   Dublin South East  -  Dylan Haskins

Independent   Dublin Central –  John Hyland

The doors will open for the Dublin event at 7pm tonight.

Similar events are due to be held in Sligo and Galway in the upcoming weeks.