Trade unions, community groups and Occupy activists rallied in Dublin this evening to coincide with international Labour Day.
About 500 people attended the march, organised by the Dublin Council of Trade Unions, which got underway at the Gardens of Remembrance on Parnell Square at 6.30pm and is making its way to Liberty Hall.
The annual May Day rallies across Europe saw thousands of workers take to the streets in protest at spending cuts
Unions in Greece, Spain, Portugal, Italy and France are using the traditional marches to express their anger over an austerity drive across the euro zone, aimed at shoring up public finances but criticised for forcing countries deeper into recession.
Earlier today about 5,000 Greek workers, pensioners and students marched peacefully to parliament in central Athens holding banners reading "Revolt now" and "Tax the rich".
Another 1,500 supporting the Communist PAME rallied outside a steel factory.
Greece will vote on Sunday in a parliamentary election that risks derailing the international bailout keeping the country afloat by punishing the parties that backed the package.
In France, president Nicolas Sarkozy will compete with trade unions to draw the biggest May Day crowd, hoping to steal the limelight from their annual street march before the second round of a presidential election on Sunday.
Socialist Francois Hollande, who is not taking part in the May 1st activities, looks set to beat Mr Sarkozy, who has been in power throughout the euro zone debt crisis.
In Greece, police had prepared for violence that has come to mark many rallies, though Athens has not seen major clashes since an unpopular austerity bill was approved in February.
The rallies come against a backdrop of growing frustration towards austerity that more fiscally conservative northern euro zone members say is necessary to bring deficits down to meet EU limits and end the debt crisis.
In Portugal, the country's two main labour unions expect tens of thousands of workers to join rallies in the capital Lisbon and other main cities.
The 700,000-strong CGTP union, which refused to sign a pact on labour market reforms required by a €78-billion euro EU/IMF bailout earlier this year, will demonstrate under the slogan "Against exploitation and impoverishment, for a policy change".
The UGT union, which had signed the reform pact with the government, takes its supporters to the streets to demand "Growth and Jobs, Social Justice".
Spain's unions have called protest marches in 80 towns and cities across the country under the banner of "Work, Dignity, Rights". Participation is expected to be limited after thousands marched on Sunday against cuts to health and education services.
Additional reporting by Reuters