Ireland's Green Party, a partner in the government's coalition, on Monday called for early general elections in the second half of January next year.

Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen on Sunday night confirmed that the European Union (EU) has agreed to the opening of formal negotiations to allow Ireland to seek financial assistance. The move could result in "tens of billions" of euros being made available to Ireland to keep the country running and to stabilize its banks.

But Green Party leader John Gormley expressed anger. "The past week has been a traumatic one for the Irish electorate. People feel misled and betrayed," he said. "We have now reached a point where the Irish people need political certainty to take them beyond the coming two months."

He called on Cowen and his Party Fianna Fail to pass an emergency budget next month, then dissolve parliament early next year.

But Cowen said his party and the people had not lost faith in him.

Gormley also said the government had to produce a credible four-year plan to show that the country could make meet budget deficit targets by 2014 and that funding from the EU and International Monetary Fund (IMF) would respect vital Irish interests and restore stability to the euro area.

Negotiations on the details of the rescue package from the EU and the IMF are expected to last weeks.