Timeline of Ireland's economic and political crisis

DUBLIN:  Ireland holds elections on Friday, when voters are expected to kick Prime Minister Brian Cowen's government out of office over his handling of an economic crisis that led to an EU-IMF bailout.

September 2008, Statistics confirm Ireland has entered a deep recession.

Fearing a run on Irish banks left exposed by the collapse of the property market and the global financial crisis, Cowen's government announces it will guarantee all deposits to the tune of 440 billion euros.

Cowen's government promises a four-year austerity plan to bring the deficit back to three percent by 2014.