"They have attacked the most vulnerable in society, slashed the budget for public services and undermined the credibility of these institutions.
On the contrary, in the credit-card market they've slashed credit lines and jacked up interest rates.
Taxes were hiked and public spending slashed as Brian Cowen's government sought to plug a widening black hole in Irish public finances.
Even before yesterday's "hair shirt" budget – which slashed public sector workers' pay, cut back child benefit and reduced dole payments to the Irish unemployed – Fianna Fáil were deeply unpopular.
Like a freak storm, the eurozone crisis has swept over this land, leaving despair and destruction in its wake: almost no household has not felt the effects of wage and pension cuts (slashed by an average 40%), soaring taxes and unemployment that at 26.7% is the highest in the EU and unprecedented in Greece's post-war history.
Many will lose their jobs, only to have their benefits slashed by legislation currently going through parliament.
Facebook Twitter Google plus Share Share this post Facebook Twitter Google plus close 3.56pm BSThe:56 The peloton, which has been slashed to around sixty riders, make their way over the top of Bradfield - Andrei Grivko of Astana nipped in to take the solitary point on offer.
As the euro crisis drags on, things will get worse for ordinary folk, impacting on the real lives and economies of Europe in the form of unemployment, slashed benefits, credit crunches, banking crises, and company closures.
There were 194 cases in 2013, most of them children, but this was slashed to just five cases in 2014, all in the north-east region of Puntland.
As austerity sweeps Europe, artistic and cultural institutions have been among the first to face cuts, with theatres, opera houses, orchestras, galleries and educational programmes all facing existential threats as their budgets and public subsidies are slashed.
Related: 100 days of solitude: Syriza struggles as Greeks once again stare into the abyss The warnings came as the European commission slashed its forecast for Greece's growth rate this year, predicting the economy would expand by a mere 0.5%, compared with the 2.5% it had projected barely three months ago.
