When the economy was booming the euro was seen as a source of strength for those countries that had adopted the new currency. Now it is transforming into its opposite, as the crisis in Greece demonstrates. The Marxists warned about this long ago.

Greek capitalism is in a deep crisis. It is the weak link in the chain and it is beginning to break. The country risks defaulting on its debt repayments, posing a serious threat to the stability of the euro. Severe austerity measures are being imposed and these are provoking a working class backlash.

An appeal has been issued for the nationalisation of the Opel plant in Antwerp under workers’ management, together with the call to develop the factory along eco-friendly lines, producing alternative forms of transport and defending jobs at the same time. Support the campaign!

General Motors have announced the closure of their Opel plant in Antwerp, involving 2600 job losses. The workers have responded by blockading the plant and stopping the removal of the stock of cars already produced and ready for dispatch. They need your solidarity!

On January 30^th a successful meeting was held in Paris to launch a network of PCF members who want to struggle to bring back the ideas of Marxism into the French Communist Party. Lessons of the past were discussed and conclusions drawn on what are now the next steps that need taking. Speaking at the meeting was also Alan Woods, editor of Marxist.com and a comrade representing the Marxists in the Italian PRC.

While the public sector workers might not be all out on the streets or on all out strike, it would be a big mistake to think that the government is out of the woods on the question of the wage cuts and the attacks on the public sector. 70,000 SIPTU workers joined the work to rule yesterday and the CPSU have escalated their action and are balloting for full strike action. The workers are digging in for what could be a long haul. At the same time however the employers are threatening to stop deductions of union dues and stopping facility time for union business.

Long discussions into the small hours, shuttle diplomacy and the combined weight of Gordon Brown and Brian Cowen and still the deadlock continues over the devolution of policing and justice in the north. The process is meant to have been agreed years ago, but the deep contradictions in the north mean that every issue and every syllable has to be fought over. The “peace process”, far from solving the problems of the working class has enshrined sectarian division and entombed the leadership of Sinn Féin and the DUP in Stormont, presiding over the minutiae of what is more or less an overblown County Council.

After the president's recent rejection of the IceSave deal between Iceland and the UK and the Netherlands, the country and its financial markets have been plunged into uncertainty. The draconian terms demanded by the deal has caused outrage in Iceland, forcing a referendum on the issue. The only decent thing for the government to do now would be to reject the deal and any attempt to force the people of Iceland to repay the debts of its financial speculators.

The trade union campaign against the wage cuts announced in Lenihan’s December budget will begin to escalate over the next few weeks as different groups of workers across the public sector take action in what is being portrayed as an ongoing campaign of selective action. Today the air traffic controllers are coming out, which will have a dramatic and very public effect on air travel. It’s likely that the workers concerned in the various selective actions will receive strike fund support in many cases and as such the campaign could continue for a considerable time. But what is the underlying situation and what are the issues for the movement?

The scandal involving the wife of the First Minister has revealed the utter hypocrisy of the politicians who run Stormont. While they are perfectly prepared to impose draconian spending cuts on welfare, they line their own pockets. The workers of the North require a fighting working class political representation and not the present bunch of parasites.

The government of the Netherlands recently granted the US military use of its islands in the Caribbean, with the excuse that this is to help in the “war against drugs”. In reality, this is a direct threat to the Chavez government in Venezuela.

A demonstration in Leeds in November organised by the English Defence League (EDL) revealed quite clearly that the police were prepared to let the EDL get through their lines, while at the same time they poured huge resources into keeping the anti-fascist protestors bottled in, proving once again that it would be naīve to believe we can rely on the police to keep us safe against the fascist hooligans. The experience in Leeds, however, does highlight the need to review what kind of tactics should be adopted to fight these fascist thugs.

In the recent period racist attacks have been on the increase across Europe, organised by small but violent groups of fascist thugs. One such formation is the so-called "Scottish Defence League", copying the name from the "English Defence League". These organisations cannot be allowed to carry out their intimidating activities unchallenged. The challenge however cannot be based on appealing to the police to prevent the far right from gathering. We can only rely on the mobilisation of working class people. Here we provide an example of such kind of working class response in Glasgow in November.

This article originally appeared in "The Red Plough" an independent Email journal of Republican Marxist opinion. It takes a clear position against the arguments of the capitalist press around the strikes on the 24th of November. In particular it deals with the question of "the national interest". The bosses are always keen to try and mask the class nature of society and here Gerry Ruddy points out the contradictions in their arguments and offers a class alternative.

The last year has marked a huge turning point in the Irish economy and most importantly a huge shift in the relations between the classes in Ireland. While the Celtic Tiger had been on life support for a while, 2009 saw a huge crisis that has had massive economic consequences and political change that will play out for a whole period. This year represented a shift from one historical period to another; a whole new perspective has opened up for Irish society, not just in the 26 counties, but increasingly across the whole island as the impact of the capitalist crisis begins to be felt to its full extent in the north.