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The Fianna Fáil/ Green Party Government has just about limped to the shelter of the Dáil summer recess, battered and severely frayed at the edges. Now there must be serious questions about how long more it can stagger from crisis to crisis.

An IPSOS/MRBI poll published in June in the Irish Tines showed Labour as themost popular party in the state with 32% support. This had never happened before in the history of elections or opinion polling in this state.

As part of the European-wide week of protest and solidarity initiated by Joe Higgins MEP, the Socialist Party initiated a national protest in Dublin city centre on Saturday June 26th.

"Today, having visited and spoken to the applicants for asylum in Mosney, I am appealing to the Minister for Justice Dermot TD to see that there is no compulsory relocation to other centres".

In light of the brutal attack on a woman in her home in Ladyswell, Dublin 15 this morning, the Socialist Party MEP for Dublin, Joe Higgins local Councillor in the Mulhudddart area Ruth Coppinger who today visited the community in which the attack took place to meet with nearby residents, issued the following joint statement.

Following an appeal signed by 16 MEPs from the Left Group in the European Parliament (GUE/NGL), this week (21 to 26 June) has been designated as a "Week of Protest & Solidarity" across Europe - in opposition to the attacks on working people across Europe and in solidarity with the struggle in Greece.

Across Europe, the bosses and right-wing governments are trying to make ordinary people pay the price for their crisis. Workers and young people need to link up the many struggles taking place into co-ordinated, united action against attacks on our wages, conditions and futures. The 21-26 June will see a Europe-Wide week of Protest and Solidarity against the bosses’ onslaught with protests, pickets and public meetings being organised in Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Britain, Greece, Denmark, Cyprus, Italy & Sweden.

Attacks on working people are mounting right across Europe. The so-called PIGS (Portugal, Ireland & Italy, Greece, Spain) countries have been to the forefront of these attacks. In Ireland, we have seen €7 billion of cutbacks, seriously damaging public services, including health and education. In Greece, there has been a 10% cut in wages and spending in the public sector, together with an increased retirement age, VAT increases and the freezing of pensions. Portugal has a plan to cut its deficit by €11bn over four years through a crisis tax on wages and cutbacks in public services. The Spanish Parliament has passed cutbacks worth €15bn on top of €50bn already agreed. Italy is due to implement "emergency-cutbacks" of €24 bn.

A joint press conference of different left groups building for the June 26th protest as part of the Europe-Wide week of protest was organised earlier this week. Here we report on the key points raised.