Community workers and one former Labour TD have said that the Labour Party in government is inflicting deeper austerity on those least able to cope with it.

Speaking during RTE's Prime Time budget debate, lecturer in Irish Politics and Society Mary Murphy said that the strategy of recent budgets to match expenditure to the taxes available was an ill-conceived approach. Instead, Murphy said, a debate is needed about the kind of society we want, and the tax system we need to get it.

Video: Addressing Taoiseach Enda Kenny on Wednesday, Clare Daly TD was harshly critical of Ireland’s “unprecedented slobbering” over the Obama family during their visit to Ireland during the G8 summit. Ms Daly described Barack Obama as a “war criminal” and said Ireland was “pimped out like prostitutes” during their visit. Michelle Obama and her daughters met Bono’s family for a high-profile lunch in Finnegans pub in Dalkey on Tuesday. (Photo courtesy of Mary Mitchell O'Connor TD)

"Any violence by a large population is not because this people is more violent than any other. It's an alarm, it's a sign, it's a signal; that something is wrong in the treatment of this population." - Occupation 101 (Film embedded as a playlist below)

Despite swingeing cuts affecting the poorest in Irish society, austerity has not been imposed on Ireland's 33 County Managers whose high salaries  are unchanged since 2010. County Managers are paid an average salary of €143,054.48 per annum, a total spend of €4,720,798.00 each year. The highest paid paid County Manager is Dublin City Council's John Tierney (pictured) with a salary of €189,301. We are seeking salary details for previous years before 2010. County Managers are entitled to additional allowances (outlined below). By Malachy Browne.

Research conducted by the office of TD Catherine Murphy shows that Ireland’s system of financial allowances to TDs unfairly discriminates against Independent and non-party affiliated TDs. (PDF here)

Syrian activists who fear for their safety at home have left Syria for Paris in recent months. Malachy Browne met five of them in Paris. (Video below)

In a leaked email to Labour Party colleagues, Party Chairman and Galway East TD Colm Keaveney said "there is another context to the [Roisin Shorthall] story that [Eamon Gilmore] has not been able to publicly articulate, given the media atmosphere at this time". Keaveney wrote that this context "needs to be discussed with the party's members" and that he is "working with the Party Leader on convening a meeting of the Central Council for early November".

Video: Mary Norris speaks at the launch of the Mary Raftery Fund for Investigative Journalism in Dublin on September 26. Mrs Norris recalls her first meeting with Mary Raftery during Raftery's investigation into child abuse at Magdeline laundries and other church-run institutions for the documentary 'Suffer little children '. Norris traveled from Knocknagoshel in Kerry for today's launch.