At the Unite Ireland conference in early June in New York, Professor Brendan O'Leary, in his contribution to this very debate, suggested that republicans and nationalists and unionists should examine the possibilities of some form of federal arrangement.
But many viewers sensed otherwise, continuing a trend that was plainly visible during the first presidential debate on Oct. 3, when the candidates tried to run over the moderator Jim Lehrer of PBS, defying the very debate rules that were negotiated by their campaigns.
Alas, in the world of disease prevention, health promotion, and lifestyle as medicine, those are the very debates that prevail.
The hall is buzzing as the event draws to a close – it's clear by the end of this debate that very small things can provoke a very big response.
Hard not to conclude by the end of the debate that very little has changed over the past 30 years, with passionate campaigners on one side, BBC executives defending cutbacks on the other.
A conference committee of the U.S. Congress is about to debate that very issue as it prepares to discuss the House and Senate versions of the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
But the ComRes poll taken immediately after the debate suggested that very few people felt he was the worst performer.
In tomorrow's issue of Nature, however, a pair of researchers in Germany reports finding the first genetic evidence that insect wings evolved from gills, evidence that very well may settle the debate.
