US Presidential candidates Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama face off in their final debate tonight.
Watch the debate live from 2am on RTE.ie/live
Three weeks before the 4 November election, Mr McCain is running out of chances to reverse his slide in national opinion polls and gain ground on a surging Mr Obama.
The encounter at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, will take place at 2am Irish time.
It will be the third and last debate between the presidential contenders and their final opportunity to reach a television audience of 60m or more.
The debate comes as new opinion polls show Mr Obama gaining strength nationally and in battleground states after weeks of economic turmoil and plunging stock markets, with more voters saying they trust Mr Obama's leadership on the economy.
A Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll gave Mr Obama a four-point edge over Mr McCain, but other national polls showed a larger margin for the Illinois senator.
A CBS News/New York Times poll that showed Mr Obama leading by 14 percentage points was the fifth survey this week to register Mr Obama's lead in double-digits.
The poll results heightened the debate stakes for Mr McCain, who unveiled a package of measures yesterday to help investors, particularly older US citizens, who have seen their retirement savings decimated by stock market losses.
But Mr McCain also said he was not finished talking about Mr Obama's service on a community board in Chicago with former 1960s radical William Ayers.
The Arizona senator said he was likely to talk about Mr Ayers during the debate.
Mr Ayers was not discussed in the last debate, although Mr McCain had been talking about him on the campaign trail.
After the last debate, Mr Obama noted Mr McCain's reluctance to discuss the issue with him directly.
Several recent polls have shown Mr McCain's attacks on Mr Obama's character largely backfired, increasing unfavourable opinions about Mr McCain among voters looking for solutions on the economy.
