Ordinary people in this State can make a stunning statement that will reverberate throughout Europe by voting No to the Austerity Treaty on 31 May. A rejection of the treaty here would massively increase the pressure for a change to the disastrous austerity policies of slash and burn, that are destroying millions of  livelihoods and society itself in countries from Greece to Ireland.

A press conference was held today launching the Socialist Party's austeritytreaty.ie website and the pamphlet on “Austerity Treaty explained: how it undermines democracy & institutionalises austerity”.

After 139 days of occupying their factory, the Vita Cortex workers have reached an agreement with employer Jack Ronan. By taking decisive action in taking over their workplace and by remaining steadfast, the workers have been partly successful in achieving their extremely modest demands.

The case of a pregnant 16 year old being refused a place in a private Catholic school in Munster has caused  widespread shock and disgust. The issue came to light in a report from the Ombudsman for Children’s rights.

On 6 May elections took place in Greece, France and Germany that dramatically showed the mass opposition to austerity across the continent and has put the viability of the Austerity Treaty in question.

One hundred and fifteen Irish Cement workers have been on strike since 3 April at plants in Limerick and Drogheda. Despite being a subsidiary of CRH, the fourth largest building company in the world with profits of €711 million in 2011, Irish Cement is attempting to use the crisis to drive down wages and cut jobs.

The battle against cuts to DEIS schools saw the mobilisation of huge numbers of parents from Tallaght and the Dublin South West area. The remarkable level of pressure exerted on the government and local Labour and Fine Gael TDs forced them to rethink and roll back from what they saw as an easy target. The campaign highlighted the merit of organised opposition, the challenges faced in building a campaign and the need to consolidate and build on the efforts of all involved to fight further attacks.

Following the recent elections in Greece, which saw two out of three voters vote against pro-austerity parties and a big swing to left parties, socialistparty.net spoke to Andros Payiatsos, from Xekinima (Socialist Party sister organisation in Greece).

Speaking in the aftermath of the French election, which exit polls predict will see François Hollande defeat Nicholas Sarkozy and exit polls from Greece that indicate a punishment for the two traditional establishment parties of New Democracy and PASOK and strong votes for forces of the radical left, with the radical left coalition, Syriza, claiming second position, Paul Murphy MEP (Socialist Party / United Left Alliance) commented:

To mark the second anniversary of the death of Peter Hadden, leading member of the Socialist Party and the Committee for a Workers' International we are reprinting this eulogy to our beloved comrade.