DUBLIN: Ireland's economy is speeding ahead and unemployment is dropping, but the coming to power of a radical new government in fellow eurozone member Greece has revived debate about the pain of austerity.
Support for opposition parties -- including for the radical left-wing Sinn Fein party -- has been surging for months on the back of their anti-austerity stance, and Syriza's win in Greece is an extra boost.
Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams spoke to Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras this week, backing the new Greek leader's campaign for a European Debt conference like the one that wrote off German debt after World War II.
"Austerity has heaped severe hardship on citizens in Greece, Ireland and across Europe," Adams said, according to a statement on Sinn Fein's website.
The Greek vote "has given renewed hope to working people across Europe, including Ireland, that there is a fairer and more just way to deal with the economic challenges that we face," he said.
Ireland estimates its 2014 growth at 4.7 percent and forecasts 3.9 percent for 2015, while unemployment is predicted to fall to 9.8 percent this year.
The country is no longer taking on new EU/IMF bailout loans but is still stuck with repayment and Sinn Fein wants a renegotiation, in particular of the 64 billion euros pumped into the banks since 2008.
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