GOVERNMENT TDs returning to Leinster House for the first sitting of the new Dáil session are meeting with a far from hospitable welcome, as up to a thousand protesters gather at Kildare Street to protest the state of the public finances and a multitude of other issues.

Hundreds of demonstrators from a clutch of left-wing parties – led by Labour, Sinn Féin, and the Socialist Workers Party – are protesting against the government’s bailout of the banking sector, and are chanting:

No ifs, no buts, no Fianna Fáil cuts

They are joined by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, who are taking part in a pan-European demonstration by trade unions who are demonstrating against a perceived shortage of initiatives to create jobs, with governments instead focussing on budget cuts.

Others are protesting at cutbacks in community services, while a small clutch of protesters are campaigning for repeal of the Civil Partnership Act.

Despite the number of protesters gathered – which could tally up to a thousand or more – there were but a handful on Merrion Street to lobby TDs entering Leinster House through their more regular, low-profile entrance ta about 12:30pm.

The Dáil resumes at 2:30pm, with the opposition parties expected to force the movement of writs to host the three Dáil by-elections in an attempt to persuade fringe government TDs to vote against the governing coalition.