The Irish Government unveiled a 20-Billion-dollar austerity plan yesterday, including public sector job cuts, tax increases and a 20-per-cent cut to public spending. Now thanks to the collapse of home prices and the threat of bank defaults, Ireland finds itself having to negotiate a bailout package estimated at more than 100-Billion-dollars. We look at what the economic collapse is doing to the country's psyche.

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PART ONE

It's Thursday November 25th.

Liberal MP Bob Rae says Stephen Harper's foreign policy is "dangerous and simplistic."

Currently, Rae prefers the complexity of criticizing Harper's foreign policy ... while supporting Harper's Afghan policy.

This is The Current.

Ireland's Psyche - Henry McDonald

On the streets of Dublin, there is a lot of anxiety about the future. Yesterday, the Irish Government unveiled a 20-Billion-dollar austerity plan. It includes tens of thousands of public sector job cuts ... a 20-per-cent cut to public spending ... as well as tax hikes. Freelance journalist Audrey Carville talked to Irish people about their reaction to the budget at a Dublin bakery this morning. We aired a clip.

For more than a decade, the Irish economy was a powerhouse ... a "Celtic Tiger" fueled by low corporate tax rates and high levels of foreign investment. This morning, thanks to the collapse of home prices, and the threat of bank defaults, Ireland is in the process of negotiating a 115-Billion-dollar emergency bailout package with the International Monetary Fund and the European Union.

Henry McDonald has been covering the good times and the bad. He's the Ireland Correspondent for the Guardian and Observer newspapers. And he was in Dublin.

Articles: Ireland's budget cuts harshest in its history *** Ireland 'shamed' by arrival of IMF *** Irish government faces byelection defeat

Ireland's Psyche - Colm Toibin

Colm Toibin has been thinking a lot about how the economic crisis is affecting the country and how Ireland should move forward from here. He's an award-winning Irish novelist, short story writer and critic. His latest book of short stories, The Empty Family will be released in Canada in January. Colm Toibin was in Dublin.