Riot police, some on horseback, are on standby outside the Dáil where a small splinter group has broken away from the mass trade union-led rally in Dublin city centre.

More than 50,000 people took to the streets of Dublin today to protest against the austerity Budget.

A playwright and arts administrator has been jailed for 16 years by Mr Justice Henry Abbott for raping a woman following a drugs and alcohol party in his Drogheda flat.