Politics

There is a sense of helplessness. Beyond anger and despair, bewilderment, writes Vincent Browne.

The imminent departure of this wretched government is no longer a consolation - not that its alternative was ever a comfort. It was dismaying for a while that strangers had to rescue us from our own Olympian incompetence. Now, there is no longer dismay - just fear and bafflement.

How can those who took the country to the edge of the abyss bring it back from the brink through negotiations with the EU and IMF?

Sinn Féin's Pearse Doherty secured his seat in Dáil Eireann on Thursday with a comfortable win in the Donegal South West byelection. By Alison Spillane

Doherty's victory is no surprise; an opinion poll conducted by Red C Research last week accurately predicted that the SF Senator would take 40% of first preference votes. He was elected without meeting the quota in the fourth count with substantial transfers from Independent Thomas Pringle.

Saving banks to pursue a low-paid jobs policy is par for the course given the dysfunctionality of our rulers' ideology. By Vincent Browne

We didn't need Ajai Chopra (pictured), our IMF minder, to tell the junta (ie, what is left of the Government) and the mandarins that the "sensible" solution to our crisis was to inflict further misery on those already victimised by the policies of the junta and the mandarins – ie, on those who have lost their jobs.

The international bailout of Ireland’s economy is another epic moment in the crisis of the eurozone. Angela Merkel’s government in Berlin is, as ever, at the heart of events. Katinka Barysch maps the political logic that guides Germany’s current strategy. By Katinka Barysch, deputy director of the Centre for European Reform writing for OpenDemocracy.org 

Around fifty people stormed the gates of Leinster House as part of a Sinn Fein protest this lunch time. Minor scuffles broke out between protesters and Gardai as the group forced its way through the gates at government buildings. Gardai quickly called in reinforcements. By Christina Finn. Additional reportage by Malachy Browne

[Video and photo gallery from the protest below]. 

The Green Party will pull out of government in early January but will support the budget on 7 December. It has called for a general election to be held in the second half of January. The party made the announcement at a press briefing in Government Buildings just before noon today. Independent TDs Michael Lowry and Jackie Healy-Rae supported the call for a general election. By Alison Spillane. Additional reporting by Malachy Browne. 

"There's a lot of disappointment and a lot of frustration about the way things have panned out", Green Party Senator Dan Boyle said today.

The spin, the lies, the denials, the delusions , the conceit and the arrogance added insult to ignominy, writes Vincent Browne.

An initial benign suspicion emerged that this was a cognitive impairment caused by the shock of becoming aware of what they had done. But that soon gave way to a realisation that it was what Fianna Fáil does best: tell the people not to believe their own ''lying eyes''.

In truth, it was - and is - part of the deceit that is endemic in our political culture: a denial of the reality that is before us.

Last night the Irish government confirmed that it has applied for a bailout from the International Monetary Fund and the European Union and that this request has been approved by the EU. The amount of funding has not yet been decided but it is estimated that it could range as high as €90 billion.

"Have you ever heard Eamon Gilmore tell a joke?" asked An Phoblacht's Robbie Smyth at a political discussion at the Pearse Centre yesterday evening. Notwithstanding Gilmore's 46% approval rating for Taoiseach in Donegal this week, Smyth said that the Labour leader is "not a great communicator" and described both Gilmore and Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny as "careful, controlled, and muted". By Alison Spillane. Additional reporting by Malachy Browne

Mr Smyth was speaking at a public meeting entitled 'Ireland in Crisis: Challenging the Consensus'.

If today's Paddy Power Red C opinion poll is anything to go by, the result of next weeks Donegal South West by-election look could herald a greater degree of electoral and political change than previously anticipated. Eoin Ó Broin

Five hundred voters from across the constituency were asked to state their preferences for the by-election, for a future general election and for Taoiseach. The results of the poll are startling in a number of respects.