All 15 candidates in the running to become Limerick mayor - the first directly elected mayor in Ireland - have been invited to take part in a live televised debate on Monday, 27 May.
RTÉ's Upfront with Katie Hannon will broadcast live on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player from Mary Immaculate College Limerick ahead of the election on 7 June.
In May 2019, the people of Cork, Waterford and Limerick voted in a plebiscite on whether to have a directly elected mayor.
Limerick was the only city to vote in favour of creating such a role, which will give significant powers to the person elected.
RTÉ is inviting all 15 candidates to participate on stage, in one of two panel debates during the broadcast, in a extended programme.
The broadcaster's initial planned programme format included an on-stage panel of eight candidates who qualified for the debate under the RTÉ television debate criteria, with the remaining seven candidates offered a place in the audience, from where they could make a one-minute election pitch to voters.
Following the declaration last weekend of the final list of candidates, the RTÉ election steering group has been reviewing the format.
The broadcaster said it believes viewers will be best served by the programme having two separate panels to ensure that the debates are as coherent and informative as possible.
However, John Moran, who is running as an independent has said he will not take part in the debate.
Instead he will "sit in the audience and make my views during the only 60 seconds of uninterrupted time which they have offered me."
In a statement RTÉ said: "Taking account of the unique and historical nature of this election, the fact there are just 15 declared candidates, and the flexibility for wider participation the theatre venue provides, additional broadcast time has been allocated for a specially-extended programme.
"Monday night's programme will see the eight candidates who qualified under the RTÉ election TV debate criteria participate in part one of the programme.
"The remaining seven candidates are now being invited to debate in part two of the programme."
The debate aims to explore what a directly elected mayor will mean for the people of Limerick, and if the unique election can change local democracy elsewhere, RTÉ said.
Upfront with Katie Hannon will be broadcast live on Monday at 10.35pm on RTÉ One and RTE Player.
Read more: Who are the candidates in the historic Limerick mayor election?
