Even as the votes in yesterday’s Referendum are being counted to determine whether it’s ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to the Fiscal/Austerity Treaty , attention will already be moving to the immediate and medium term future of the Eurozone and the fate of the millions of people in its economically beleaguered periphery. History may well show that the treaty itself was an almost irrelevant distraction from an honest appraisal of the cataclysmic problems that bedevil the currency union as all the contradictions in its economic and financial systems assert themselves with a vengeance.

Across Europe, in the face of growing resistance at the polls and on the streets, the capitalist class is ramping up its campaign to terrify people into accepting its ongoing austerity. In the south a ‘yes’ vote in the referendum on the EU fiscal treaty is pushed by the government and the bosses. Here Michael O’Brien explains why the Socialist Party is campaigning for a no vote. For more information see the Socialist Party website www.austeritytreaty.ie for detailed arguments against the fiscal compact treaty or buy the new pamthlet from Socialist Party MEP, Paul Murphy available from the Belfast Socialist Party office(02890232962)

The government of Fine Gael and Labour in the South has introduced a draconian new household tax, another measure to make ordinary people pay to bail out bondholders and speculators. Out of the two million households in the country, only 41% had registered as the deadline for registration of 31 March passed and we go to print.