‘Upfront with Katie Hannon’ is like the Steroid Late Debate

Relaxing at night watching it certainly is not.

But its antagonistic, town hall-style format was certainly made to appeal to television when the debate sometimes gets particularly acrimonious.

The first topic around accommodation for asylum seekers and refugees is an obvious and smart choice, given the events of recent days.

It was also one of the same topics discussed on Virgin Media’s Tonight Show just half an hour earlier.

And some keen-eyed viewers have noted that RTÉ’s opening credits look uncanny like its rival news program with its montage-style visuals.

However, Prime Time award-winning journalist Katie Hannon is a smart choice as host, showing few signs of nervousness for her show debut.

Needless to say, she had some big shoes to fill when Claire Byrne vacated the eponymous Monday night gig she’s been performing for seven years.

But Ms. Hannon has proven to be an accomplished moderator on a number of controversial topics when the premiere turns out to be particularly noisy at times.

Her panel includes Senator Michael McDowell, junior minister Jennifer Carroll O’Neill (FG), former Deputy MEP Matt Carty (SF) and Syrian-Irish journalist Razan Ibraheem.

The discussion opened with a question from a member of the studio audience named Saoirse. She asked if Ireland could ever limit the number of asylum seekers coming to the country.

The short answer is no, according to the EU’s Temporary Protection Directive, but the topic has been brought up at length.

Video of the day

Mr McDowell, the former attorney general, claims there is now a “wave of economic migrants coming here to seek asylum.”

He stated that the majority of people who say they’ve lost their passports want to make it harder to hide their identities.

He said it’s important to distinguish between who is fleeing the persecution and who is here for other reasons and shouldn’t take three years to process an asylum application.

“All we have to do is have a system that works and works properly quickly,” he said.

Saoirse explains how she has lived in Kinnegad and that last July asylum seekers moved into a local hotel without any consultation.

“We are a very small country town with limited amenities, so we have nothing to integrate people,” she said.

She would like to see more Government support to help newcomers integrate “without going behind everyone’s back.”

Another studio spectator named Brian, who took part in last Sunday’s protest at Waterford’s Lismore, was even stronger.

He said the Direct Supply system was not working and called the current policy a “national disgrace”.

Secretary of State Jennifer Carroll MacNeill has certainly had her job cut to defend all of the recent decisions.

It did it sometimes feels like she’s plowing a lone furrow, since she’s the only representative of the Government there.

McCarty must have breathed a sigh of relief at having avoided torture over anything related to Sinn Féin’s election costs as the topic of refugees grew hotter.

The discussion then turned to the housing crisis and how heartbroken young people are when there is little chance of owning their own home in the near future.

However, it all seems a bit rushed, as producers race to put too many hot topics into a long time frame.

As well as a (very hard-working) studio audience, the show also promises to offer a “broader social audience” and this is where future problems may arise.

It can be difficult to ensure that it becomes more than just a social media outlet for contributors appearing on the show.

There is also rigorous fact-checking throughout the show to ensure that anonymous scammers aren’t just trying to get their opinions on national platforms.

To give Hannon one of her own report cards is a strong start but a few tweaks will improve it going forward.