The three Presidential candidates will face off in the first TV debate of the campaign later.
Jim Gavin, Heather Humphreys and Catherine Connolly will have the first chance to set their stalls out to the nation.
The trail so far has been a little lacklustre but there are hopes the first TV debate tonight could ignite the Presidential campaign.
None of the candidates has any great experience with debates under the bright studio lights - with Catherine Connolly seen as the best performer of the three, purely based on her Dáil exchanges with the Government.
Heather Humphreys was a Minister who preferred to do her work away from the media glare - but improved in interviews through her time in Cabinet.
While Jim Gavin is a total unknown quality in this kind of setting.
The two Government party candidates will have to manage strategies for how much they do or don't attack each other.
And while Connolly has free reign to go at both, she's also outnumbered on the Virgin Media stage.
So while this could ignite the battle for the Aras, it could be a damp squib if they all play it safe.
