This was no thriller, there had been far too many previews of Budget 2016: The Movie to allow for any suspense about what it contained. Anyway, after years of those stressful cliffhanger austerity blockbusters, we deserved the feelgood budget delivered by the Government yesterday.

Greece must implement its bailout programme fast to achieve its main aim of regaining access to market financing and escaping international supervision, re-elected leftist prime minister Alexis Tsipras has said.

Greek voters yesterday returned Alexis Tsipras to power with a strong election victory, ensuring that the charismatic leftist remains Greece’s dominant political figure despite caving into European demands for a bailout he once opposed.

Greece’s new prime minister has named the members of her caretaker government as the country prepares for early elections next month.

Greece’s radical left Syriza party can win re-election with an outright majority, a senior member said, governing without support from mainstream forces which also back the country’s new international bailout.

Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras has defeated a bid by dissenters in his left-wing Syriza party to push for an end to bailout talks and an exit from the euro.

Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras says he does not want early elections but rebels within his radical left Syriza party could force his hand.

Greece’s bailout deal is in line with previous bailouts, only worse. It will lead to further deterioration of the Greek economy and debt, writes Pat Cradock

The new political party formed by three high-profile TDs will be called the Social Democrats;  Cork camogie captain urges others not to hide their feelings; People  of West Cork were plunged into mourning yesterday following the death of a worker at the Clona Dairies plant, and Jodie Kidd popped into a Cork pub to pull pints and have the craic.

Finance Minister Michael Noonan has claimed the Greek coalition government party Syriza made a “disastrous political decision” when it asked the public to give its view of the EU debt deal.

Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras faces open revolt from some of his own ministers as he seeks support for a bailout deal that, while saving the country from financial collapse, will cause years of pain for Greece.

While 80% want to stay in the EU, many also profess to be socialist. A balance of free-market ideals and privatisation, tempered by debt relief, is the best compromise, says Paul Glader

As the going gets tough in Greece, the Greeks are going shopping.

Former Labour leader Pat Rabbitte has said he would have been obligated to contest the next general election if he was not dumped out of cabinet by Tánaiste Joan Burton.

CALLING the bluff of Greek’s European partners, and retorting with an immediate referendum demonstrated Napoleonic verve by prime minister Alexis Tsipras, writes Gerard Howlin. 

The past week has taken its toll on nearly everybody in Greece. What’s next, asks Europe Correspondent Ann Cahill from Athens

A corrupt ideology continues to push austerity on Greece, but if the country is to leave the eurozone, its politics and economic management must change, writes Michael Kinsella.           

The country has behaved fecklessly since it joined the European Union, which is finally content to let it leave, says John Lloyd

Crisis talks between Greece and its creditors have resumed in Brussels, in a last-minute effort to prevent a default.

Alex Tsipras has been the Greek Prime Minister since January 2014.

It was reported thatattempts are being made to split the Right2Water campaign, if this is true, and many say it is not, it would be disturbing as Right2Water is the only social movement capable of effecting real change in Ireland.

THE kindness of strangers took on a new, less comforting meaning for Greece yesterday when eurozone finance ministers warned that it will not get any more financial support until a complete economic reform plan is agreed.

Frances Fitzgerald confirms independent inquiry into Siteserv deal; A 102-year-old woman sees her younger self dancing on film for the first time ever; and top editors reveal the ‘write’ way to get published. These are some of the latest and most read news on irishexaminer.com this lunchtime.

Syriza wants to break the rules of a political association that it cannot afford to leave, writes Gerard Howlin

Saturday’s water protest was the first real manifestation of an effort to organise on the left of the political spectrum and a seething electorate may grant it some success, writes Michael Clifford.

When, in 1597, Shakespeare included the line “uneasy lies the head that wears a crown” in Henry IV, Part II, he can hardly have imagined how relevant, how very pertinent and precise, his observation would be on this small island more than four centuries later.

Sinn Féin have pledged to introduce a third higher rate of tax as well as a wealth tax if put in power, as the party defended the millions of dollars in funding it has received from US business leaders.

Get a taste of some of the interesting and quirky happenings in Europe from our Europe correspondent, Ann Cahill.

Greece committed itself to seven pages of reforms from streamlining tax and Vat systems to alleviating poverty through non-pecuniary measures such as food stamps.

Greece has been cast as Europe’s bad boy, with other states happy to deliver a kicking, but in fact it fulfilled many of its troika commitments, writes Europe Correspondent Ann Cahill

Greek voters’ turn to the left was not a communist overture, but rather a plea for action to stem the torrent of hardship they have suffered in the recent past, writes Anna Diamantopoulou

The Irish Government should look to its Greek counterpart for some lessons in hard negotiation skills, Luke 'Ming' Flanagan said today.

A cohort of the country’s leading academics has called on the Government to publicly back a European debt conference and offer to host the event, in a show of solidarity with Greece.

Syriza’s chorus of despair has learned its lines well, but efforts to blames some sort of pantomime villain are erroneous, writes Daniel Gros

Greece has been “stabbed in the back” by Finance Minister Michael Noonan, Opposition TDs have said.

A rally in solidarity with the people of Greece and the newly-elected Syriza-led Government will take place in Dublin today.

In relation to the Greek financial situation, now that the dust has settled following the recent election, it’s interesting to observe that all the promises, threats of defaulting made by the anti austerity party Syriza are unravelling.

Greece’s new finance minister has sought to convince his sceptical German counterpart to back a new approach on Greek debt – but an agreement still appears to be a long way off.

The European Union has kept peace among member states, but some are finding the ties that bind are becoming too tight, writes Caroline O’Doherty

Germany has rejected any suggestion that Greece should be forgiven part or all of the debt it owes to international lenders.

The working people of Greece have delivered a clear message to the European Union, the IMF and Greek oligarchs that they have had enough of ‘austerity’; enough of being bullied; enough of being dictated to.

Young, brash and tie-less, former communist Alexis Tsipras has emerged from the shadow of austerity in Greece to become the country’s first radical left-wing prime minister.