Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, has stepped down and fled the country after deadly protests. Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi has said that he would act as president until elections could be held.
The Tunisian president was in power for 23 years and known for mixing authoritarian rule with a degree of prosperity and stability for his people.
Ben Ali has faced an unprecedented mass revolt initially sparked by discontent over joblessness, and rights groups say at least 66 people have died in a brutal crackdown.
Yesterday, less than 24 hours before his departure from the country, he admitted that he had been 'wrong' in his analysis of the country's social ills and ordered his forces not to use lethal force against demonstrators.
Meanwhile, travel agent Thomas Cook has said that 30 Irish people have been flown out of Tunisia today.
The Department of Foreign Affairs is advising Irish citizens against non-essential travel to Tunisia amid the current political unrest and demonstrations taking place in Tunisia.
A spokesperson said it has been contacting the 50 or so Irish nationals who are registered with the Department in Tunisia to update them on the situation.
The Department is also asking anyone who may know of Irish nationals who are in Tunisia and who may not be registered with them to make contact via their website (www.dfa.ie) or to phone them on 01-4780822.
Earlier, the Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali imposed a state of emergency across the country and a night time curfew.
State television in Tunisia said that 'the president has given orders to Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi to create a new government. Following acts of violence, it has been decided to introduce a state of emergency in the country to protect Tunisian citizens.'
The statement continued 'this state of emergency means that any gathering of more than three people is forbidden, that arms will be used by security forces in cases where a suspect does not stop when asked to do so by the police and thirdly, a curfew from 5pm to 7am for an indefinite period.'
5,000 people demonstrated outside the interior ministry earlier demanding the immediate resignation of Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali in a bid to end the worst unrest of his rule.
The rally came hours after the 74-year-old president announced in a television address that he would not seek a sixth term and would step down in 2014.
In power since 1987, Ben Ali made what he described as sweeping concessions on Thursday evening, saying security forces would no longer use live ammunition against protestors and promising freedom of the press and an end to Internet censorship.
He also said the prices of sugar, milk and bread would be cut.
His foreign minister said on Friday that Tunisia may form a national unity government and hold early parliamentary elections after what he called Ben Ali's 'clear and sharp correction'.
But demonstrations continued this morning in Sidi Bouzid, the central town where protests against unemployment and poverty began a month ago, with several thousand marchers demanding that Ben Ali go immediately, several witnesses said.
Ben Ali, only the second head of state Tunisia has ever had and in office for over 23 years, set his departure date in an emotional speech made after weeks of deadly clashes between protestors and police.
The government puts the death toll at 23 but the Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) said it has the names of 66 people killed.
Many of those involved in the protests said they were fed up with unemployment, a lack of liberty and the huge wealth of a tiny elite under Ben Ali, and they were expecting that he would try to extend his rule for another, sixth term.
In the Lafayette district in the centre of Tunis, where a few hours earlier police had shot and wounded protestors, hundreds of people ignored a curfew last night and poured into the streets after Ben Ali's speech ended.
'We are happy because he spoke the language of the people. We hope that all the bad memories will be left in the past and we will have only freedom,' said Ramzi Ben Kraim, a 22-year-old student.
Soon after the presidential address, Internet sites which had been blocked for weeks, including YouTube and Dailymotion, started working.
There is no obvious candidate to succeed Ben Ali, who had dominated political life in Tunisia and sidelined rivals since he seized power in 1987, declaring independence leader Habib Bourguiba medically unfit to remain president.
Ben Ali was contrite and appeared close to tears at times during his televised address. He spoke for the first time in the local dialect instead of using classical Arabic.
'I have been deceived, they deceived me,' he said, in a reference to senior officials. 'I am not the sun which shines over everything,' he said.
' I understand the Tunisians, I understand their demands. I am sad about what is happening now after 50 years of service to the country.'
