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LAST UPDATE | 26 Nov 2024
THE FINAL LEADERS’ debate of the general election campaign took place tonight on RTÉ.
Fine Gael’s Simon Harris, Fianna Fáil’s Micheál Martin and Sinn Féin’s Mary Lou McDonald clashed over housing, justice, and how coalition talks might play out, among other key issues.
The leaders of the three largest political parties faced questions from Miriam O’Callaghan and Sarah McInerney on a special edition of Prime Time.
The Journal followed every twist and turn of the final leaders’ debate.
Reporter Lauren Boland was liveblogging throughout the evening. Political journalists gathered at RTÉ’s studios in the hours before the debate, including our politics editor Christine Finn, who was watching the debate from the Prime Time set. Our FactCheck editor Stephen McDermott was on hand to factcheck the standout claims made by the party leaders.
Here’s the play-by-play of how the debate panned out.
Good evening! Lauren Boland here. I’ll be liveblogging the final leaders’ debate of this election campaign. Whether you’re planning to watch it live on the television, just looking to get updates on the highlights, or catching up after the debate, we’ll have everything you need to know here on The Journal.
It’s just under two hours until the debate kicks off on RTÉ One during Primetime. Our politics editor Christina Finn is stationed in Donnybrook waiting for the three party leaders to arrive.
The leaders taking part in the debate tonight are Fine Gael’s Simon Harris, Fianna Fáil’s Micheál Martin, and Sinn Féin’s Mary Lou McDonald.
The three of them were in the RTÉ studios for a debate last week too but the stage was a fair bit busier that time, with ten party leaders participating – here’s a reminder of how that went down.
Ahead of tonight’s debate, Miriam O’Callaghan said it is sure to be “intense for everyone involved” and a “chance for viewers to see all three leaders up close and personal”.
Co-host Sarah McInerney noted that the debate takes place a mere three days before polling day on Friday and that it’ll “be the first and only debate between the three people contesting for the office of Taoiseach”.
McInerney said that “people want to know who is going to fix the housing crisis, who can address the cost of living in Ireland and who will tackle hospital waiting lists”.
Will the debate shed light on those questions?
You can also follow our politics editor Christina Finn, reporting live from RTÉ.
Party leaders should be arriving shortly. pic.twitter.com/RFas9hTLeu
— Christina Finn (@christinafinn8) November 26, 2024
Taoiseach Simon Harris is the first to arrive.
Speaking to reporters on his way in, he’s asked whether his team had communicated to RTÉ that the carer Charlotte Fallon (who he was filmed being dismissive of) was a Sinn Féin member in an effort to stop the video from being shared.
He says: “I don’t believe so.”
“I’m really conscious that while it’s only really hours to go until polling stations open across this country, there are many voters who remain undecided,” says Harris on his way in to the debate.
Simon Harris says many people are undecided on who they will vote for in this election. pic.twitter.com/VChxUKMAOp
— Christina Finn (@christinafinn8) November 26, 2024
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has landed.
Christina asks her what Sinn Féin party members would make of a coalition deal between Sinn Féin and Fianna Fáil.
McDonald says the “best” option would be for a government with neither Fine Gael or Fianna Fáil – but leaves the door open for finding common ground with Fianna Fáil.
“We’ll see what frame of mind Michéal is in [at the debate],” she says, with a hint of a smile.
Is there any common ground between SF and FF? pic.twitter.com/Scg0kVKXnL
— Christina Finn (@christinafinn8) November 26, 2024
Completing the trio, Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin has arrived too.
Micheal Martin arrives at RTE studios. pic.twitter.com/6564bV3rhY
— Christina Finn (@christinafinn8) November 26, 2024
A message from our politics editor Christina Finn:
The RTE Press Room is my home for the next couple of hours. This is where all the reporters and photographers watch the live studio debate and file their copy. There’s coffee and tea cakes, so that should keep me going.
As we wait for the debate to start, here’s some new polling figures for the five-seat Kerry constituency from TG4.
Independent Michael Healy Rae fared the best in th TG4/Ipsos B&A poll, receiving 27% of first votes from those surveyed.
His brother Danny Healy-Rae came in fifth on 10%, but Michael is likely to have a significant surplus above the quota that would transfer largely to Danny, securing him a seat too, according to the poll.
Outgoing Minister for Education Norma Foley came second on 14%, followed by Fine Gael candidate Billy O’Shea and Sinn Féin candidate Pa Daly.
Some photos of the three leaders from their arrivals at RTÉ in the last hour:
The three party leaders are stood at podiums quite close to each other. None of the ‘opposite sides of the stage’ stuff you’d see in the likes of the recent US president election debates – they’re practically shoulder to shoulder.
The first question is to Simon Harris and it’s about that video from Kanturk on his interaction with a carer and whether Fine Gael communicated with RTÉ in the aftermath about coverage of the matter.
Harris insists that the party’s communication was to offer a statement about its position on care and disabilities.
He says he has ‘no knowledge’ of any request being made not to air the clip.
Here’s what the set-up looks like tonight:
Sinn Féin’s Mary Lou McDonald defends a point in her party’s manifesto to commission a review of RTÉ’s objectivity. In response, Fianna Fáil’s Micheál Martin – after almost interjecting while McDonald was speaking, but then holding back – says he finds that proposal concerning.
McDonald takes aim at Harris and Martin, saying they should feel “ashamed” over stories from members of the public about struggles to receive the help and healthcare they need. Martin and Harris are both eager to try to dispel that criticism.
We’re rocketing through issues – the questions have turned to cost of living.
Martin opens his answer by saying that Covid and the post-Covid period has had a significant impact. Presenter Miriam O’Callaghan challenges him on that – not everything can be brought back to Covid – but he sidesteps around it.
McDonald says Sinn Féin wants to deliver “permanent ongoing savings”. She says she supports the one-off payments that the government made in the last couple of Budgets – making sure to add that she would have gone even further on them – but that she “cannot understand” why it proceeded with fuel tax increases.
Martin and Harris do some head shaking as McDonald criticises Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil’s performance and plans. In response, Martin says that business would be “crucified” under Sinn Féin. Harris cites the trade risks posed by Donald Trump’s presidency in the US – insisting that his party would spend less than either of the other two, calling Sinn Féin’s spending “reckless and irresponsible”.
McDonald says to Martin that his party “brought the crash”.
Harris jumps in: “And we brought people out of it.”
Our FactCheck Editor Stephen McDermott is live fact-checking this evening’s debate.
He’s already checked a couple of claims from Harris, Martin and McDonald around the cost of living.
Firstly, Simon Harris said that you’d have to “go back to the 70s to find a harsher period of inflation” in Ireland before the level of inflation seen in 2022.
Although Harris’ broad point that Ireland’s inflation was at its highest in decades during the last Government, inflation was worse in the 1980s.
July 2022 marked the highest rise in the CSO’s Consumer Price Index in decades, when annual inflation hit 9.2%.
But that was the highest annual increase since April 1984, when annual inflation ran at 9%.
According to the CSO, Ireland’s highest rates of inflation (as per the Consumer Price Index) were observed at the start of the 1980s, when inflation peaked at 23.2% in 1981.
It said the rate of inflation was more than 15% from October 1979 until October 1982 and remained above 9% until April 1984.
Micheál Martin also said that post-Covid problems and the war in Ukraine “really drove the energy price increases” seen in 2022.
While that is also true to an extent, a €15 increase in the price of fuels as a result of carbon tax hikes between 2021 and 2022 also played a role.
Finally, Mary Lou McDonald claimed that carbon taxes don’t have the effect of getting Ireland to its 2030 target on emissions.
Although the carbon tax has contributed to a reduction in Ireland’s emissions, Ireland is currently projected by the Environmental Protection Agency to achieve only a 29% reduction in emissions by 2030, compared to a target of 51%.
There’s a looming shadow hanging over many economies today as US President-elect threatens new tariffs on multiple countries – Ireland isn’t one of them, but we could face knock-on impacts.
The leaders are asked about what they would cut from their plans if they needed to reign in their spending.
McDonald says what Sinn Féin wouldn’t do would be to impose austerity.
Harris says Fine Gael would borrow if necessary or introduce plans over a longer period of time than intended.
Martin says that “the one thing that people can be guaranteed with Michéal Martin, and with myself, is that I will always put the country before party”, and talks about Fianna Fáil’s role in setting up the Future Ireland fund for future spending.
(That’s not a typo, by the way, he did indeed say both his name and “myself”.)
Presenter Sarah McInerney cites findings that “radical action” is necessary to address the housing crisis.
She asks Micheál Martin what kind of radical action would Fianna Fáil take – she asks a couple of times, interjecting as he talks first about the past and then about the party’s target for 60,000 houses per year. He insists reaching that target would be radical – “We don’t need to go back to the drawing board as some are saying.”
Harris defends Fine Gael’s record, saying its the top priority and that it would spend €40 billion over the next five years to deliver 303,000 homes – downplaying remarks by former Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy that housing was not made a priority. Harris now brings up the idea of “country before party” himself – when did that become a thing? – and says bluntly: “My party has never crashed the economy.”
McInerney challenges Sinn Féin’s housing promises and whether banks are on board. McDonald is adamant there’s no barrier on the banking side to her plans for the housing sector.
There’s been a fair bit of back and forth so far overall – both presenters trying to get straight answers out of the party leaders, who can stray sometimes from the questions they’re asked.
Our FactCheck Editor Stephen McDermott is back with some more claims from the debate.
Earlier, Simon Harris called out for a fact-check of a claim by Mary Lou McDonald that Sinn Féin is proposing to fund any current expenditure proposals from windfall.
For clarity, current expenditure refers to day-to-day spending like public sector salaries, public services and social welfare, as opposed to capital expenditure on things like housing and other forms of infrastructure.
Sinn Féin’s manifesto states that it would “invest a portion of windfall corporation tax receipts to deliver a catch-up infrastructure programme and build housing at scale”.
In other words, its section on windfall corporation tax only refers to capital expenditure.
However, in a section about the use of the Apple tax (which is in itself is a windfall), the party also proposes to investing part of the money on 5,000 hospital beds, a form of current expenditure.
It also references other things like transport which, although vague, could also encompass current expenditure if it involves paying more bus or train drivers, for example.
In a segment on housing, Tánaiste Micheál Martin said that Ireland is now building more social homes than it has since the 1970s.
The highest number of Irish council houses were built in 1975, when local authorities built 8,974 units.
A total of 8,110 units were built in 2023 (the last full year for which data is available), making this the highest year since 1975.
However, there are a couple of things to note about this statistic.
Firstly, the Government has repeatedly missed its own social housing targets since Housing for All began in 2022.
And secondly, social housing construction has been relatively low since the early 1980s, in part because the private market began to take off in the late 1970s.
The number of social housing units a built every year was under 6,000 between 1980 and 2000, and hovered around the 6,000 mark for most of the decade before falling again after the crash in 2008.
The Government only built more than 6,000 social housing units twice since the crash before Housing for All began in 2022 (though one could say this shows the plan is enabling the delivery of much more social housing than has historically been the case).
Sarah McInerney pushes Mary Lou McDonald for a direct answer on her plans for delivering social housing and where will she source enough construction workers to build them, given the current shortage.
McDonald starts talking about the current government’s record on housing
“If you wouldn’t mind, Mary Lou McDonald, the question is: where are you getting the builders?” McInerney says. “Mary Lou McDonald, Mary Lou McDonald, would you mind answering – no one can hear you when I’m interrupting you and I will interrupt you if you’re not answering the question. The question is, where are you getting the builders for your 93,000 social homes by 2030.”
McDonald says too many apprentices are dropping out of their courses because the courses take too long to complete and that the industry says labour will be attracted by “reliable work”.
Here’s a recap of some of the answers to housing questions (videos by RTÉ):
"The investment in infrastructure will be unprecedented... we do not need to go back to the drawing board as some are saying, and start all over again."
— RTÉ Prime Time (@RTE_PrimeTime) November 26, 2024
Micheál Martin responds to questions about a radical reset of housing plans.#rtept | @RTENews pic.twitter.com/wt24gLSUT6
"There is a need for a radical reset on housing policy..."
— RTÉ Prime Time (@RTE_PrimeTime) November 26, 2024
Simon Harris responds to questions from Sarah McInerney about Fine Gael's approach to housing.#rtept | @RTENews pic.twitter.com/uwnzqydjIS
"The banks will have requirements that will have to be met."
— RTÉ Prime Time (@RTE_PrimeTime) November 26, 2024
Mary Lou McDonald says she's 'absolutely confident' banks will offer mortgages to potential buyers under Sinn Féin's proposed housing plans, despite recent comments from the banking federation.#rtept | @RTENews pic.twitter.com/HA5esAbj1W
After the ad break, the first topic is healthcare.
Despite it being one of the most important issues, there’s not much heat in this portion of the debate – all three agree there are significant problems with the health system. Harris even says at one point: “I don’t want to shock Mary Lou McDonald but on this point I agree with you.”
Discussion about mental health policies becomes more contentious, though. Some fractures are clear between coalition partners Martin and Harris; Martin criticises parts of Harris’ manifesto, which Harris is very quick to push back on – adding, though, that he expects the criticism is due to a misunderstanding rather than a deliberate intention to be misleading.
FactCheck Editor Stephen McDermott has another couple of quick claims squeezed between two late ad breaks.
Earlier, Mary Lou McDonald claimed that the Banking and Payments Federation of Ireland (BPFI) had never said it wouldn’t lend to those looking to avail of Sinn Féin’s affordable housing plan.
The plan proposes that the State would continue to own the land a house is built on, while there would be conditions on the sale and rent of the property.
Fianna Fáil in particular has repeatedly claimed that banks and the BPFI have expressed scepticism about the plan, though Sinn Féin have retorted that the BPFI have told the party there is major issues with it.
The claim and counter-claim came up in the early in the campaign, when The Journal sought a statement from the BPFI.
The federation said that the BPFI met with Sinn Féin for a “preliminary discussion” about the plan and “identified a number of issues that would require further consultation in order to enable lenders to provide mortgage finance”.
It said this only related to “some elements of their plan” and they did not say which, and that the BPFI was committed to working with “any future government to improve the supply of housing in Ireland”.
In other words, McDonald is right that banks have never said they wouldn’t lend – but they also haven’t said they would, and say they have identified issues (without saying what they are).
In another claim before the ad break, Micheál Martin and Simon Harris went back-and-forth on the claim that Fine Gael’s manifesto doesn’t provide for a single person to be recruited in the health service.
Although requirement numbers aren’t specifically mentioned in the budgetary section of Fine Gael’s manifesto, the document references hiring healthcare workers repeatedly.
It discusses the hiring of more therapeutic and medical staff, including psychiatric nurses, additional resources to support the recruitment of midwifery and medical staff, and investments in the National Ambulance Service to hire more ambulance staff.
The budgetary section also mentions growing the GP scheme by 80% over the next five years, providing 277 more training places – some of which will presumably translate into the hiring of GPs.
More clashing and criticism between the party leaders over the issue of the justice system.
Martin says that there needs to be stronger laws around bail for violent offences and that the party would create two new departments to deal with justice.
McDonald is asked if she regrets her actions during and after the Dublin riots last year, and she says “absolutely not”.
McDonald doubles down on her criticism of Fine Gael Minister for Justice Helen McEntee – but Harris says he won’t “take a lecture from you on law and order”.
“Your position was to blame the head of the guards instead of the rioters,” Harris levels at McDonald.
After another ad break, climate comes onto the agenda.
An evaluation by three academics from UCD, UCC and Maynooth this week published by Friends of the Earth gave all three parties on the stage tonight an ‘E’ grade for their manifestos from a climate perspective. (Fine Gael scored 38, Sinn Fein 33, and Fianna Fáil 30 out of 100.)
Martin says he thinks that report was “unfair” and that he “robustly defends” Fianna Fáil’s commitment to climate action. “I’d like to engage with the people behind that report because it was very unfair to Fianna Fáil,” he claims.
In the context of the parties not setting out how they would tackle aviation emissions, Sarah McInerney challenges Harris over a recently-revealed dinner in 2022 between Fine Gael minister Paschal Donohoe with Ryanair owner Michael O’Leary.
Harris defends the meeting, saying it was appropriate, and swiftly moves along to defending Fine Gael’s climate record. He says Fine Gael scored “significantly higher” than the other two parties on the stage.
Well, only if 38 is “significantly higher” than 33 (Sinn Féin) or 30 (Fianna Fáil). (The Social Democrats received 71 points and Labour received 79, for context)
McInerney brings it back to Michael O’Leary, who recently launched a Fine Gael candidate’s campaign, and asks how much influence he has over Fine Gael’s climate policy. “None,” Harris inists.
McDonald is challenged over her repeated insistence that carbon taxes have not decreased Ireland’s emissions. Responding, she calls the tax “lazy” and says the government is overly relying on them.
Some final claims from this evening as checked by our FactCheck Editor Stephen McDermott.
During a section on climate change earlier, Simon Harris claimed that environmental group Friends of the Earth rated his the climate proposals in his party’s manifestos better than Fianna Fáil’s or Sinn Féin’s.
Although that is technically true, the academic evaluation rated all three parties’ proposals with an E grade: Fine Gael scored 38%, compared to Sinn Féin’s 33% and Fianna Fáil’s 30%.
Meanwhile, Mary Lou McDonald also claimed that a report from the Comptroller and Auditor General had found that around 40% of the funds raised from the carbon tax, which were supposed to be ring-fenced for climate action measures, could not be accounted for.
A report by the C&AG published in September found that this was the case.
It said that no central tracking system currently exists within the Department of Public Expenditure for carbon tax receipts, and that there will be no way to determine that all carbon tax receipts were allocated to the targeted areas in 2030.
Under questioning about coalition talks, Martin gives one of the most definitive answers of the night when he says that Fianna Fáil would not go into government with Sinn Féin after the election.
“Is there anything you admire about the Sinn Féin leader?” Miriam O’Callaghan asks him.
“I’m not getting into silly stuff,” Martin says.
Harris also shuts down the prospect of working with Sinn Féin, saying that the parties are too far apart on issues.
McDonald says the two other leaders want to put each other back into government and that they thought at the start of the election campaign that they could “jive” their way back into government buildings. Harris interjects – “not from me”.
McDonald goes as far as calling the Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael “tweedledum” and “tweedledee”.
Here’s a look at how those answers about coalition talks went:
On coalition possibilities and ruling out Sinn Féin, Micheál Martin "it's extraordinary that you put a question that manner..."
— RTÉ Prime Time (@RTE_PrimeTime) November 26, 2024
Asked about previous coalition claims, he says FF and SF's housing policies are "diametrically opposed."#rtept | @RTENews pic.twitter.com/rHFPJnVXEf
On coalition possibilities and ruling out Sinn Féin, Micheál Martin "it's extraordinary that you put a question that manner..."
— RTÉ Prime Time (@RTE_PrimeTime) November 26, 2024
Asked about previous coalition claims, he says FF and SF's housing policies are "diametrically opposed."#rtept | @RTENews pic.twitter.com/rHFPJnVXEf
"There is political life beyond Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael..."
— RTÉ Prime Time (@RTE_PrimeTime) November 26, 2024
Mary Lou McDonald on her intention to lead a future government.#rtept | @RTENews pic.twitter.com/ZKS0r9nDi0
And each of the leaders face a final question about issues specific to their respective parties:
"Were there are tough decisions to be made, where the rulebook has to be applied, I won't flinch in that..."
— RTÉ Prime Time (@RTE_PrimeTime) November 26, 2024
Mary Lou McDonald responds to questions about recent controversies linked to her party, and what it says about leadership.#rtept | @RTENews pic.twitter.com/NBVTZ6HaTr
"We wouldn't have someone with a criminal conviction running for Fine Gael..."
— RTÉ Prime Time (@RTE_PrimeTime) November 26, 2024
Simon Harris responds to questions about FG candidate John McGahon.#rtept | @RTENews pic.twitter.com/4To0TyEXrc
"We're in a very fragmented system..."
— RTÉ Prime Time (@RTE_PrimeTime) November 26, 2024
Micheál Martin is asked why people can trust him, given he previously ruled out government with Fine Gael.#rtept | @RTENews pic.twitter.com/W8D2BoMEqY
And that’s it – the final leaders’ debate of this election is over.
If you were watching – how do you think they performed? Our readers’ Player Ratings is live now.
From all of us at The Journal, goodnight.
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No, but lots will. Apple could put their logo on a dog turd and people would be camping overnight to buy it.
The iShite, followed by the iShite S six months later that’s twice the price and twice as shite!
Stay classy Daisy….
@Daisy lol
Not a fan of apple products. Overhyped and over priced.
I wouldnt be a fan of any type of radio transmitter being strapped directly on your your body. Dont care how safe they reckon bluetooth is.
If youre that scared of day to day life, you really haven’t learned the right to use that name, Mr. Bourne.
Be an awful shame if you were exposed to radio waves on a near constant basis…
I think you’ll find we all are, John. Ryan Tubridy is flying through your head as we speak, and there’s nothing you can do about it!
Horrible thought, Tubs flying through my head is at least.
I’ll wait until the lucky lucky men are selling them for a tenner on the beach on the Costa. No one will know the difference!,,,,
Has he got the gormless look on he’s face tubs
That’s a horrible form of torture Neal, the man has the personality of a Rice Cake.
Great. Thanks for that LOL
of a rice cake. more like the personallaity of a dish cloth
Wireless devices cause less harm the further away from you they are. So a device 1FT away will cause less harm than a device thats resting on your skin (.5cm away). 2FT, even less and so on. So ya, I’d be concerned wearing a device that will be transmitting and rec’ing all day and night.
We dont hold mobile phones to our head 24/7, so why would you strap a wireless device to your wrist.
Your solution is here low IQ boy.
http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/51b8e89ceab8eaa87d000009-480/tinfoil-hat.jpg
Jason Bourne, please enlighten us as to how, in your opinion, radiowaves are harmful??
John Boy, I’ll say it just once more for you. Microwaves transmitted in very close proximity are not good for you. The FURTHER away you are from the source, the less harm they can cause. Google it and stop the ‘enlighten us’ $hit. G’lad.
Get that man a tin foil hat!
Excellent response!!!! So microwave radiation from a cellurer device that is non-ionising is somehow now harmful (ionising radiation is the type that can rip electrons from cells and is harmful to our DNA, e.g x-rays & gamma rays, non-ionising does not, it’s impossible). Microwaves transmitted by a cellular device are very very weak, the only risk is the very small amount of heat generated by cellular devices which may release proteins that may be linked with Glioma, a rare type of brain cancer.
However, Glioma is extremely rare so if there was a link with cellular devices it would be pretty obvious, however, studies have found absolutely no link between cellular devices and instances in Glioma.
Non-Ionising Radiation is not harmful, this is a fact and easily researched by reading anything about the electromagnetic spectrum. If microwaves or radiowaves were ionising radiation then life would not exist on this planet as the sun would have ionised everything from the moment the planet even began to form.
Yes, Sony way better.
No until it’s waterproof. How can they sell a “Sport” model that isn’t?
How about the little problem of having to lug a phone around just for it to function?
Gear S is far superior.
sure then you have to lug around a samsung android phone…what’s the difference?
No you don’t. The Gear S has its own GPS, 3G and Wifi. It functions without being tethered to a phone at all. I can leave my phone at home and my phone calls and text messages go to my watch.
I can leave my phone at home when I go for a run and the GPS in the watch tracks my run and uploads it to the Nike+ web site.
The Apple Watch is 2 years out of date already.
Having to lug an iPhone around?? Cos most people leave theirs at home normally?
@Mark Byrne
The primary purpose of the phone is health. Unless you enjoy running with a giant iPhone 6 plus strapped to your arm, I’d suggest there is a market for a watch that alleviates the problem. This one doesn’t.
“The primary purpose of the phone is health.”
The primary purpose of the WATCH that is.
The gold ones are especially dumb. Electronic devices are disposable for a reason. They are replaced by improved models very quickly. What are you going to do with your 18ct gold smart watch when its electronics are 3 years out of date?
The primary purpose of any watch is to tell the bloody time, it may also offer other functions like the date and a stopwatch. I had a Citizen eco-drive watch for 15 years, a great watch and did all these things.
I recently got a new Seiko solar watch which is obviously solar powered, has a date function, measures seconds, 24 hours and has a stop watch function. It is luminous and clearly visible at night and waterproof to over 600 feet. It doesn’t have WiFi, 3G or GPS, can’t send texts, make calls, but then neither can the Apple watch without a phone nearby.
“The primary purpose of any watch is to tell the bloody time”
I’ve used my phone to tell the time for years and never bothered with a watch until I could get one that measures my running distance, speed, elevation and heart rate. Without those functions a smart watch doesn’t do anything that you can’t already do on your phone.
“It doesn’t have WiFi, 3G or GPS, can’t send texts, make calls, but then neither can the Apple watch without a phone nearby.”
The Gear S works fine without the phone.
As I said the primary purpose of any watch is to tell the time, it’s what they were invented to do. Your phone can tell the time too, but what’s it’s primary function? To communicate, by making and receiving phone calls and text messages, yes I know it can also do loads of other things as it’s probably a smart phone but being a phone, that’s it’s primary function.
Yes I know the Gear S works without a phone, others have already mentioned that if I didn’t. However this article and I referred specifically to the Apple Watch.
You seem to be comfortable using your phone as a sports watch, health monitor, and GPS, but if you did want a watch you wouldn’t choose the Apple Watch you’d choose the Gear S.
You’re obviously healthier than me so I’m not going to argue with you. There’s pro’s and con’s with every option, I’ve had a watch on my left wrist since I was 7 years old so at this stage it’s become a part of me. I like wearing a good watch and being able to glance at my wrist to be able to tell the time instead of having to reach for my phone. While I’ve never broken a screen on a phone, yet, I know my watch is also a lot tougher, and waterproof. I imagine each of us adapts our phones, and watches, to our own particular needs. As you’re a runner you may be interested in a watch with a heart monitor, you’ve indicated this, whereas this would be useless for me, I’d be dead if I ran across the road. Each to their own.
Fools and their money. You can get the time from your mobile phone.
Your a fool for thinking its just for telling the time. If you have to criticize make it meaningful
Yeah Mark. It also allows you to check text messages and answer calls without taking the phone out of your pocket. However, it won’t work if the phone isn’t within bluetooth range (about 20 ft).
Stephen. All the Apple Apps on the watch will also be available on your Apple mobile phone – which isn’t just for making phone calls.
No, some apps will be dedicated to the watch
But won’t work without the phone. So it’s all BS really. They aren’t really watch specific apps if you need the phone for them to funtion.
IPhone users get a lot of unfair critism, but anybody who shells out for this watch is only doing it to try and be cool.
no. i have a watch. and i have a phone.
the watch i have cost 50euro and the battery is going for over 3 years.
I found a watch on ebay for €3 and that inc delivery. Three years later its still working beautifully. Remember though the apple watch isnt a watch its a mini ipod, iphone etc. my €3 watch cant do that
If you don’t have your iphone in close proximity the apple watch won’t do anything more than your €3 watch.
Do we have to ask iPhone Joan first if we are allowed to buy one??
If you don’t have the current iPhone, i believe, it doesn’t function
Nope. One watch is enough. I’ve a suunto ambit 2. Great fun water proof and all I need.
Clever way by the Journal of advertising for Apple. Say it isn’t so.
Probably no – I want to buy Fitbit charge HR or Fitbit surge soon (think 150 and 250 eur respectively) – almost perfect fit/smart watch – one big letdown is also not being waterproof though. How fitness watch is not made waterproof is beyond me, anyway it’s still great choice.
You should have a look at xiomai’s products – cheaper
Xiomai band? I know it’s cheap but comparing it with Fitbit is misunderstanding… Much worse compatibility with everything and software support, no HR sensor…
Fitbit actually gathers real data – no more or less random steps count and useless sleep patterns.
Did I hear right that it only has an 18hour battery life or that you will definitely have to charge it at night?? what the f*ck do you need a watch that cant even get past 24hrs I bought a kinetic watch (runs on my body movements) for a lot less and it will last years, I would rather update my iphone than buy an iwatch
This gadget should be classed for the simpleton populous who feel in order to fit into society and be accepted they will need to purchase another pointless apple product and keep the fake economy ticking over at the same time. lol!!
That’s what they said about the TV……
And look how much that has benefited society.
It’s the biggest form of brainwashing and propaganda and when you tell people the truth they can’t handle it because the man with a suite and tie on TV didn’t say it was so.
I like Apple and I wanted to want this more, but I think the price for early adoption is too high this time around. €400 for the one with the rubber band is excessive. And as mentioned above that one is not even water proof.
I would if id nothing better to do with my life.
It’s a niche product, probably being used as a test bed for future advancements and miniaturisation of technology.
Its a sight to see in ireland that there are still some people out the with more money then sense!!
If it’s anything like other Apple products, whenever it goes off time you’d have to bring it into the Apple Authorised Retailer™ to have them reset it with their proprietary software.
No thanks.
Crap
Updated my iPhone last night to iOS 8.2 and it put a stupid app to do with the watch on it. Something that I did not and never will want. ugh..
Life is so hard.
If you bury the app in a folder you’ll never be bothered by it again. Just satin’
No. 1 Silicone G2 is a fine smart watch for €50 – from http://www.tinydeal.com
Its got everything – heart monitor, video and good enough camera.
Why pay more?
What sort of a weirdo wants a hidden camera in their wearable devices?
They stopped putting cameras in the Samsung watches because gyms were banning them due to the cameras.
This poll and the many drip feed related stories was sponsored by Apple.
If Apple was a government it would be a Fascist one.
Dumb comment
Eh no?
Not a hope in hell of me ever owning one of these (or any “smart watch” for that matter). The diarrhea coming out of Tim Cook when he was on about this watch was nauseating. It is a hugely overpriced gimmick.
This device is so incredibly unnecessary
I’ve always liked watches….so I have a few. But I wouldn’t be interested in an Apple watch, the battery life would do my head in…18 hrs! Plus the fact that my eyesight is not as good as it was, so trying to read anything on the watch would involve carrying my reading glasses everywhere.
In the mid 90′s I bought a Citizen Skyhawk Eco-drive(pricey at the time)…it’s waterproof too, tells the time in any part of the world and with it you can work out how much fuel your plane needs to get to the next airport(sad to say I have never used that function), wear it everyday, never needs a battery and apparently it never will…must leave it to one of my children in my will.
A new shiny thing skangers can rob, no thanks.
Also, my €150 G-Shock waterproof 5 year battery watch does me perfectly.
18 hour battery life . I have citizen eco drive which charges itself. I don’t need another device which has to be plugged in ever night
The second model starts at $499 for the watch alone, then another $500 for a wrist strap. FOR A STRAP?!
How does USD $349 equate to 400 euro???
Euro price is tax inclusive. The yanks show price before tax on everything
I’ll stick to my timex
Of course not! I wouldn’t buy this hideous watch, I have class so you know. I am fond of the old classy look of the double ticker.
No I won’t buy one but if someone wanted to give me one Id like that.
Questions aren’t phrased right!
I fear that my fingers are too cumbersome
have your say