Higgins issues austerity warning

President Michael D Higgins has warned about the dangers posed by austerity.

In another outspoken intervention on the impact of the economic crisis, he used a speech to students in Croatia to urge Europeans to guard against a resurgence in racism and to protect democracy from the pressure of “speculative markets”.

In a speech that again tested the limits of presidential boundaries, Mr Higgins expressed alarm that money markets and economic rating agencies wielded power that should belong to national parliaments.