Dublin

IRELAND'S live television debate last night between Prime Minister

Albert Reynolds and the leader of the Opposition, Mr John Bruton, was

compared to a US presidential debate involving George Bush and Ross

Perot -- but without Bill Clinton.

The missing voice was that of Mr Dick Spring, the leader of the Labour

Party, who is the popular choice for Prime Minister according to the

opinion polls.

Although Labour has no prospect of winning an overall majority in the

next parliament, it is expected to hold the balance of power after

tomorrow's general election.

Labour strategists were annoyed at the exclusion of Mr Spring from the

debate, in which Mr Bruton, the Fine Gael leader, secured a narrow win

over Mr Reynolds.

Mr Reynolds performed better than he had so far in the campaign,

getting the better of Mr Bruton on the details of economic policy and

job creation.

Mr Bruton accused Mr Reynolds of having destroyed his own Government

by tactlessly describing his junior partner, Mr Desmond O'Malley, of

being dishonest.

Mr Reynolds ridiculed Mr Bruton as an ineffectual politician who had

brought two governments down by presenting incompetent budgets in 1982

and 1987.

The 60-year-old Premier, fighting to reverse a downward slide in the

opinion polls for his Fianna Fail party, quoted from the autobiography

of Dr Garret FitzGerald, describing Mr Bruton as a truculent and

difficult person in government.

Mr Reynolds also said that Mr Bruton had not got on well with Mr

Spring, whom he was now hoping to entice into a ''rainbow coalition''.

Mr Reynolds claimed that Mr Bruton and Mr Spring had brought Ireland

to the verge of bankruptcy and were only rescued by being thrown out of

office in 1987 by the return of Fianna Fail.

On Northern Ireland, Mr Reynolds promised to resume the talks for a

political settlement, which he claimed were merely adjourned during the

election.

But Mr Bruton criticised Mr Reynolds for a lack of generosity by not

committing himself to removing Articles 2 and 3 of the Republic's

Constitution, which lay claim to jurisdiction over Northern Ireland.

Voting with feet