A war of words over General Election leader debates has broken out between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.

The new Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin said he is "amazed" that Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny is ruling out a three-way TV debate between the leaders of the largest political parties.

Mr Martin has challenged Enda Kenny and Eamon Gilmore to a series of debates on RTE, TV3 and TG4 during the General Election.

However, Enda Kenny said he will only participate in a debate that involves all five party leaders.

The Labour Party, which has accepted the offer, said it is "disappointing" that Fine Gael is so "fearful" of such an arrangement.

Micheál Martin is calling on Enda Kenny to reconsider his position while Labour has also said it is time for Fine Gael to "put the captain on the pitch".

But the Fine Gael leader warned that no major party should be excluded in the current political climate.

“It appears as if Deputy Martin wants to stay for the duration of the campaign in the studio,” Mr Kenny said.

“The reason for that is that Fianna Fáil campaigners do not want to knock on the doors of the houses of people whose lives have been ruined up and down the country.”

Fianna Fáil are languishing near the bottom of opinion polls and face the daunting challenge of going head-to-head with Sinn Féin to be the third biggest party in the Dáil.

At 14%, their rating is a record low and the next Red C poll is due in this weekend’s Sunday Business Post.

Fine Gael head the polls, with Labour in second, but Mr Gilmore is consistently ranked the country’s most popular leader.

Mr Martin has proposed at least five debates spread out over the four-week campaign before the expected February 25 election. He suggested they would be broadcast on RTE, TV3 and one debate in Irish on TG4. Sky TV is also trying to get in on the act.

He wanted two three-way debates – Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Labour – and also head-to-heads between the main leaders.

Fine Gael insiders are keen to expand the format to include Sinn Féin’s Gerry Adams and Green leader John Gormley.

Last September at the Fine Gael think tank, Enda Kenny said: "It doesn’t matter to me, but it’s not my call in any event, whether the leaders' debates are between myself and Brian Cowen, whether they are between three leaders, four leaders or five leaders."

Mr Martin’s letter, sent to Fine Gael and Labour after his resounding election success yesterday, claimed that previous debates had been too conservative.

He also contended that repeated head-to-head TV appearances would focus the campaign on policies rather than soundbites.

Mr Gilmore was quick to accept the challenge. Mr Kenny’s party initially stood back before suggesting the new approach should not be limited to the three traditionally strongest parties and urged his opponents to open it up to all realistic challengers.

A Fine Gael source said: “The indications are that Eamon Gilmore wants to keep Gerry Adams out of the debate.

“It’s quite evident that there’s some competition on that side of the spectrum.

“But we’re not into excluding anybody.

“To interpret that as ruling out a three-way debate is inaccurate. But in the current political spectrum, it’s just not feasible and it should be a five-way debate.”