Today’s protest organised by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) is going ahead despite the best efforts of the Fine Gael/Labour Party sell-outs to sabotage it by spoofing that they have a fabulous deal and ‘sure, things will be alright from now on.’

The Fine Gael/Labour Coalition has invested so much of its political capital in getting a better deal from the European Central Bank on the Anglo Irish Bank promissory notes that unless it succeeds in a transparent way its survival will come into question.

TAOISEACH Enda Kenny said Irish people would not respond to bribes when voting on the forthcoming fiscal treaty, but what would he call the promise of access to the ESM bailout fund if a yes vote is returned — or can that assurance be, more properly, called blackmail?