Dublin  - Ciaran Cuffe of Ireland's Green Party has denounced visiting Czech President Vaclav Klaus as ultra-conservative and anti- European and has asked the Irish government to express some concern over his views, national broadcaster RTE reported Tuesday.

The Czech Republic, which assumes the rotating EU presidency on January 1, will have to deal with Ireland's rejection in a June referendum of the Lisbon Treaty aimed at streamlining the decision- making process in the 27-member bloc.

Dublin  - As Ireland's Progressive Democrats (PDS) ground to a halt at the weekend, it seemed fitting, given the collapse of the low-taxation Celtic Tiger economy, that the party which peddled liberal free-market economic policies was "no longer politically viable."

One of the junior parties in the Irish coalition government, the PDs, which have just two seats in the lower house or Dail, voted to wind up the party by 201 votes to 161.

Dublin - Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen on Wednesday congratulated Senator Barack Obama on being elected president of the United States, saying Obama's election was "a day of hope for the world".

"Barack Obama's remarkable personal story - allied to his eloquence and his huge political talents - sends a powerful message of hope to America's friends across the world."

"There is a palpable sense of history with the election of the first African-American president.

Dublin - The man who spearheaded Irish opposition to the European Union's Lisbon Treaty said Monday that he hoped to turn his organization into a European political party.

Declan Ganley told Irish broadcaster RTE his aim was to run candidates in many EU states in the June 2009 European elections.

He said the move would provide an opportunity across the EU to provide a proxy referendum on the treaty designed to streamline the running of the 27-nation bloc.

Dublin - Following an austerity budget prompted by ailing public finances amid a recession, Ireland's ruling Fianna Fail party suffered a massive 10-percentage-point drop in support in an opinion poll published Sunday.

In the Red C poll published in the Sunday Business Post, only 26 per cent of voters would opt for Prime Minister Brian Cowen's party, well behind the opposition Fine Gael party on 33 per cent.

The seven-point lead for Fine Gael is the largest since polling began, Irish national broadcaster RTE reported. Fine Gael had gained five points since the last poll.

Dublin - Former United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan warned on Thursday, World Food Day, that the global hunger crisis is as serious as the current financial crisis and must be tackled with the same urgency.

Speaking at the international Fighting Hunger Conference in the Irish capital, Dublin, along with economist Jeffrey Sachs and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson, Annan said the credit crunch should not be used as an excuse for stopping aid to developing countries.