Opposition parties are calling for the immediate publication of a European Central Bank (ECB) letter allegedly threatening Ireland into a bailout.

The correspondence was sent to the then Irish government just days before the country signed up to the Troika rescue deal in November 2010.

The Finance Minister Michael Noonan has indicated that he favours releasing the document to whatever banking inquiry is established in the future.

However Michael McGrath of  Fianna Fail says there is nothing preventing the government from publishing the contents of the letter now.

“In my view the Minister is free to go ahead and publish that letter immediately” he said.

“I think it is important for the public record, I think it’s important for everybody to see the influence that was being exerted by the ECB – in a threatening way – at the time, and I think that the content of it would certainly help Ireland in our negotiations now to get a better deal on the bank debt over the next 2 months” he added.

A 31-year-old Australian man has been charged over an alleged hammer attack on 2 Irish backpackers in Melbourne.

The men aged in their 20s and 30s suffered serious injuries during the attack which happened at a boarding house in the suburbs.

One is said to be in a serious but stable condition while the other is critical but stable.

Luke James-Wentholt of Saint Kilda East appeared at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court today charged with 2 counts each of intentionally causing serious injury and recklessly causing serious injury.

He was remanded in custody to appear in court again in October.

Sinn Féin is urging the government to abandon plans for a property tax next year and introduce a wealth tax instead.

The party says people should only pay tax on assets totaling more than €1 million.

At the weekend it emerged the coalition has told the Troika it will introduce a ‘value-based’ charge for next year.

But it is unclear if that is on the site or the property.

Sinn Féin finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty says neither way is fair.

“Whether it’s on a valued tax – it could be somebody living close to the city centre of Dublin, that the property would be valued at a high level – that that person may have lost their job, that their wife may have lost their job” he said.

“Or you could have the other situation for somebody living in rural Ireland if it’s a site-valued tax”.

“(They) could have the family home with a couple of acres and be in the same situation”.

“It is a flawed premise – it needs to be based on the ability to pay” he added.

There has been a 30% increase in the number of children coming forward for mental health treatment in the past 2 years.

The organisers of the National Mental Healthcare Conference which takes place next month say the recession has resulted in a surge in the number of Irish children suffering from depression and social dysfunction.

Conference Chairman Dr. Ian Gargan says parents may not even realise that their children are effected by financial pressures.

“Children are very sensitive to change, and changes in inter-familiar relationships – dynamics in the home – or even what’s available in resources to them” he said.

“So those sensitivities lead to questions and a little bit of insecurity; and as a result that can manifest as anxiety, low-level depression and general unhappiness” he added.

British police searching for a lion in Essex say they’re taking the hunt seriously.

Officers have scrambled helicopters with heat-seeking equipment to where the animal was apparently seen.

Newstalk’s Jack Quann has more.