Josh Lowe, Owen Matthews and Matt McAllester examine what’s happening in Europe to try to understand what’s behind the emergence and spread of the current global populist revolt

Trust the American people, says avowed liberal John Lloyd, who believes the US Constitution is one of the reasons why the new administration won’t be as bad as feared

Here’s a briefing on some of the stories and issues highlighted on irishexaminer.com today.

The leaders of the campaign to get Britain out of the European Union sought to ease concerns about the country’s uncertain economic future by giving public backing to Bank of England governor Mark Carney and finance minister George Osborne.

THE night of the Brexit referendum, I go to bed with an unfamiliar sense of trepidation. Dread, almost. What if they actually do it? Naaah.

Online opinion polls in the run-up to May 5 elections across Britain overstated support for the UK Independence Party, suggesting they may also be overestimating backing for leaving the EU, according to a leading polling analyst.

Mohamed A El-Erian warns that the Greek crisis, the conflict in Ukraine, and the rise of populist political parties threaten to converge into a devastating gale bearing considerable consequences for Europe

THE backpackers who got naked on the sacred mountain in Borneo aren’t a great advert for the phenomenon we call ‘gap year’.

BBC journalist Norman Smith had a rather unfortunate slip of the tongue during a live discussion about leadership issues within the UK Independence Party (Ukip).

A man who uses a wheelchair was left alone on a locked train in Dublin as no staff were available, Ian Bailey has been ordered to pay his full court costs, an Irish Examiner poll has reveals 94% of readers think the Government need to invest in a Limerick - Cork motorway and Villa's rising star Jack Grealish rejects a first senior Republic of Ireland call-up. Here's this evening’s irishexaminer.com catch-up.

Nigel Farage, the leader of Britain’s anti-EU UK Independence Party, withdrew his resignation after tendering it last week over his failure to win a seat in the British parliament.

Enda Kenny says the Marriage Equality Referendum has nothing to do with children or religion, a Maynooth student develops an app which rates business’ wheelchair accessibility, Nigel Farage has his resignation as leader of UKIP rejected and remains as leader and Barcelona and Messi signal they mean business. Catch up with this evening’s top and most read stories on irishexaminer.com.

BRITAIN goes to the polls today to elect a new government and if political punditry is worthy of even passing attention the result will map an utterly novel but challenging political landscape for our nearest neighbours. 

Ukip and the SNP are making inroads ahead of the election. Deadlock at Westminster would spell bad news for Ireland, writes 

British prime minister David Cameron yesterday said there was only a “pretty slim” chance he could bring forward to 2015 a referendum on the country’s membership of the EU which he wants to hold if he wins a national election in May.

UK chancellor George Osborne said the budget on Wednesday will offer no giveaways and difficult decisions will still have to be made, as he seeks to drum up support for his Conservative Party before May’s election.

Radical left leader Alexis Tsipras has been sworn in as Greece’s new prime minister, becoming the youngest man to hold the post in 150 years.

Senior Ukip MEP Amjad Bashir has defected to the Tories – but Nigel Farage’s party said it had suspended him over “extremely serious” issues.

Somebody get the abacus!

Controversial UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage got a little mixed up with his counting skills at a campaign rally yesterday.

A crash in UK housing prices and Mario Draghi leaving the European Central Bank are among 10 “outrageous” predictions for 2015, according to Saxo Bank, which forecast the oil-price slump in a similar list last year.

A senior Ukip official has denied a claim that he sexually harassed one of the party’s most high-profile women candidates.

A senior Ukip official has denied a claim that he sexually harassed one of the party’s most high-profile women candidates.

A senior Ukip official was suspended after one of the party’s most high-profile women candidates complained that she had been sexually harassed, it has been reported.

David Cameron hinted he might recommend a British exit from the European Union if it stops him restricting EU migrants’ access to UK welfare benefits, but said he was confident it would not come to that.

British prime minister David Cameron’s Conservatives lost a second parliamentary seat to the anti-EU Ukip, an embarrassing defeat heralding a possible fragmentation of Britain’s two-party system in next year’s national election.

Britain leaving the EU would be a disaster for both it and the 28-nation bloc, Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi said yesterday .British prime minister David Cameron has promised to renegotiate Britain’s ties with the EU before offering a membership referendum in 2017 if his Conservatives are re-elected next year.

The new leader of Scotland’s nationalists demanded that Britain should only be allowed to leave the European Union if all four nations making up the UK vote for an exit.

Former taoiseach Bertie Ahern said he is concerned about the impasse in the talks process in the North.

David Cameron has allowed Eurosceptics to dictate the narrative of the UK debate on EU membership, says Mary C Murphy

German Socialist Martin Schulz became the first person to be elected president of the European Parliament for the second time when he got more than 50% of the votes in the first round.

Nigel Farage claimed to have pulled off the “most extraordinary result in British politics for 100 years” as Ukip surged to the top of the European polls in a contest which will leave the leaders of Westminster’s main parties counting the cost.

British prime minister David Cameron will be forced to step up his drive to claw back powers from the EU to head off a challenge to his leadership after losing votes to the anti-EU UK Independence Party, its leader Nigel Farage said.

FOR decades, Ireland had a pro-EU cartel at the centre of party politics.

The change in how the top jobs in the EU are allocated, coupled with the rise of anti-austerity parties, could produce a very different parliament, writes Europe Correspondent Ann Cahill.

As the wealth gap globally widens, a political backlash has begun among an increasingly militant public, writes Kyran Fitzgerald.

The UK Independence Party has rejected as “nonsense” Tory criticism of the party using an Irish actor in a poster about the impact of immigration on British jobs.

WE should be cautious of agreeing with UK Prime Minister and Conservative leader David Cameron on anything. When it comes to energy policy, we should steer well clear of him.

Shock new Swiss laws that target immigration are a cause for concern, writes Kyran Fitzgerald.

UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage has launched a clearout of “extremist, nasty or barmy” views from the party after one Councillor blamed recent flooding on the passing of gay marriage laws.

Is it conceivable that Britain will leave the EU? While “Brexit” is now a universally recognised acronym, no British politician of chancellor George Osborne’s seniority has previously threatened so explicitly to pull out.

The EU has sought to calm fears in countries such as Britain, France, and Germany that they face a mass influx of Romanians and Bulgarians following the lifting of restrictions, a change that risks fuelling anti-immigrant sentiment in Europe.

A DJ, the star of Sherlock and the host of X Factor have topped the best dressed men’s list.