Ireland

President Barack Obama declared solidarity between the United States and economically struggling Ireland with a symbolic gulp of beer and a rousing speech, telling a huge Dublin crowd on Monday: "Your best days are still ahead."

One of the Irish Republic's biggest banks has issued an apology to customers after a systems failure meant that, for a time, they were unable to access their cash accounts.

Ireland unveiled the harshest budget measures in its history Wednesday, a four-year plan to slash deficits euro15 billion ($20 billion) so it can get a massive bailout from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.

The Republic of Ireland is in preliminary talks with EU officials for financial support, the BBC has learned.

Credit agency Moodys has downgraded Ireland's government bond ratings to Aa2, blaming banking liabilities, weak growth prospects and a substantial increase in the debt to GDP ratio.