Ireland deficit

As inspectors arrive in Greece to discuss bailing out the country’s economy, the president of the European Commission says the EU is facing the biggest challenge in its history.

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou says he will do what is necessary to deal with his country’s economic crisis, which is threatening to spill over into other European states.

What happens if Europe’s politicians fail to resolve Greece’s debt problems? Channel 4 News looks at the repercussions.

After partially recovering in early trading, shares in markets across Europe have fallen by between 1.5 per cent and 2.5 per cent, with the FTSE slumping below the 5000 mark.

As finance ministers discuss the economic and financial crisis, former chancellor Alistair Darling tells Channel 4 News leadership is needed to avert another recession.

Brian Lenihan, the finance minister who led Ireland through the financial crisis, has died at the age of 52. He passed away at home surrounded by his family after a battle with pancreatic cancer.

Portugal has been thrown into political uncertainty after prime minister Socrates’ resignation, but economists warn the upheaval has implications for the wider EU – including the UK.

Fianna Fáil will bear the brunt of an angry Irish electorate, but is a Fine Gael government more of the same, asks Dr Peter Stafford, an economic and political analyst based in Dublin.

Despite Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen surviving a leadership battle, he looks certain to lose the ballot when he faces the electorate later this year, writes Ireland expert Dr Peter Stafford.

Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen has said that he will stay on as leader of the Fianna Fail party for the best interests of the country after calls for his resignation.

As the Irish PM Brian Cowen announces his intention to stay on as party leader, Irish expert Dr Peter Stafford sees echoes of both Gordon Brown and Margaret Thatcher in his decisions.

Exposure to Ireland’s crippled economy will force Lloyds Banking Group to write down more than £4bn of loans – a “not helpful, but not life-threatening” step, one analyst tells Channel 4 News.

The spending cuts in Ireland outlined by Finance Minister Brian Lenihan were “not a normal budget, but the environment in which it was delivered is not normal”, writes economist Dr Peter Stafford.

Ireland outlines its toughest budget cuts in a generation as the country’s finance minister says it is time to move forward with “confidence and purpose”, writes Siobhan Kennedy.

More than 50,000 people have taken to the streets of Dublin to protest against the spending cuts and tax increases the Irish government is planning to introduce.