prime minister brian cowen. >> we want to facilitate the passage of these measures in the uniquely serious circumstances in which we find ourselves. the political and financial stability of the state's warrants us no rest. >> one party has declared a decision to leave the ruling coalition, and there have been protests outside the finance ministry to demonstrate the handling of the economy, and we have this report. >> the irish crisis today. at the gates of the irish parliament, demonstrators tried to stage a sit-down protest. this may have been a political stunt, but there is genuine anger across the country, as ireland has gone from boom to bust in just three years. final details of the multibillion-dollar euro rescue package for ireland have yet to be worked out, but the shape of the deal is already clear. >> it needs quite an amount of assistance. we will restore confidence and encourage people to bring the money back into the irish economy. >> the emergency aid is coming from the international monetary fund and the european union. the closest neighbor to ireland is also helping out. th

brian cowen says the most important thing is passing next year's budget. >> [unintelligible] at the gates of a ireland's parliament, public anger spilled over as demonstrators tried to [unintelligible] this may have been a political stunt, but there is genuine anger across the country as ireland has gone from boom to bust in just three years. ireland's need for a multi- billion the euro rescue package has become more than an economic crisis. the irish government is on the verge of collapse. the junior partner in the two- party coalition announced this afternoon was pulling out. >> we have now reached a point where the irish people need political uncertainty to take him beyond the coming two months. we believe it is time to fix a date for a general election in the second half of january, 2011. >> rumors swept dublin that the irish prime minister would resign. but tonight, he refused to go. he said he would not call an election until he was allowed to pass a budget. he made it clear he was still in charge. >> nobody has pushed me into anything. what i'm simply saying is we are focused on an

in dublin, prime minister brian cowen acknowledged that while the austerity measures will be tough, they are necessary. >> i am hopeful for the future that this plan is another confidence-building measure, another sign post along the road towards national recovery. a journey upon which we have embarked since this economic and financial crisis began. >> sreenivasan: cost-cutting measures in portugal led to a nationwide strike from labor unions today. the day-long demonstration paralyzed many public services canceling flights, and disrupting train and bus travel. it came as lawmakers are preparing to vote friday on an austerity package that will raise taxes, and cut public sector wages and welfare benefits. in britain it was students who took to the streets to protest tuition hikes. that's one way the british government plans on cutting its debt by tripling university fees. we have a report from juliet bremner of independent television news. >> a symbol of authority and the focus of today's student anger. this police van was surrounded and almost toppled in front of the treasury. deep in g

[speaking gaelic] >> irish prime minister brian cowen remains in power, but opposition leader as and members of his own party have wanted him to resign before the budget vote. the prime minister has a coalition government. ireland was asked to come up with a four-year plan as a condition of the package. the budget will be released tomorrow. president obama and vice president biden travel to kokomo, indiana, off the side of a chrysler manufacturing plant that was part of the government-led i although restructuring. here in his reports, the president called on congress to extend tax cuts for middle-class earners an economic stimulus efforts. this is about half an order. >> the president and the vice president of the united states. [applause] >> hello, folks, how are you? good to see you all. good to be back in an automobile plant, making things. hey, thank you all very much. we're delighted to be here and i expect as delighted as you are to be able to be here. look, when the president and i got elected we knew we had a heavy load to carry. the country was in some real tough shape. and

. >> on wednesday irish prime minister brian cowen releases governments for your economic recovery planhe spoke to the irish parliament before addressing the media, talking about spending cuts and new taxes. he is joined by irish finance minister and green party leader john gormley. this is just under 45 minutes. sae >> good afternoon, everyone. thank you all very much. i wish to say a few introductory remarks. jon schorle, green party leader and then brian lenihan. today we were going to announce before your plan between now and 2014. it's to bring certainty for our people, to ensure that they have hope for the future, to let them know that while we have a challenging time ahead, we can and we will pull through as we had in the past.to lethem know the crisis that has come and we're dealing with since the th sin middle 2008, and which now we need to step out in further h itil at that we do wit between now and 2014, is similar in some respects to of the crisis in other countries at other times. those countries came through that crisis. those they came through thosetime foro problems.toge

earlier today irish prime minister brian cowen released his economic recovery plan at a news conference, a plan that called for spending cuts and new taxes. ireland currently has a record deficit. from dublin, this is about 40 minutes. >> good afternoon, everyone. i wish to say a few introductory remarks. today we have come to announce a four-year plan between now and 2014. to let them know that while we have a challenging time ahead, we will go through as we have in the past. the crisis that has come to ireland that we are dealing with since the middle of 2008, which we need to set out for the details as to how we deal with this between now and 2014 is similar in some respects to other crises and other countries at other times. those countries came through that crisis. they came through those problems. this is a time for us to pull together as a people, time for us to confront this challenge and to do so in a united way. to do so in a way which ensures those who have the most will make the most contribution, those who have leased will be protected to the greatest extent we possibly can