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People who walked into newsagents shops all over the country on last week might easily have staggered out in a confused and shell shocked state after glancing at the morning newspapers. A plethora of banner headlines would have leapt out at them with horror stories of a raft of new fees, charges and taxes awaiting them in the next few years if government plans are allowed to be implemented.

The “Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union”  is a treaty to institutionalise synchronised austerity across Europe at the expense of basic democratic rights. If implemented, it will mean a further assault on the living standards of working people and will further deepen the economic crisis.

I have recently joined the Socialist Party. I am a self employed wall and floor tiler and like many in the construction industry, I am finding things very difficult at the moment.

The government statement that householders would have to pay for the installation of water meters to their own homes is outrageous.

"Get a life" is Minister Shatter's message to those fighting the household tax. Labour has also tried to put the boot in but clearly they are nervous that this movement can decisively damage its base in working class areas up and down the country.

On 18 – 19 April the Dail will discuss the Medical Treatment (Termination of Pregnancy in Case of Risk to Life of Pregnant Woman) Bill 2012. This is the first time that a positive proposal to legalise abortion in Ireland has been initiated and in that sense it is a truly historic step forward. Of course it is long overdue and we fully recognise that it is merely a very tiny first step, but it is important nonetheless.

The depiction of a deranged dystopian realm is not an un familiar one to cinema goers. Last year there was the chilling Never Let Me Go with Kiera Knightly and Carey Mulligan, and the re-discovery of V for Vendetta (2006) by the “Indignados” and “Occupy” protesters. The Hunger Games, a film adaption of the first novel of a bestselling teenage trilogy by Suzanne Collins, in that sense is not groundbreaking or exceptional. However, with the captivating appeal of its feisty heroine, Katniss Everdeen, played with subtlety and intelligence by Jennifer Lawrence, and its portrayal of themes such as extreme inequality, lack of democracy, dictatorship, the depravity of the tabloid media and reality television that echo many of the themes of the ‘Occupy’ movement, mean that ‘Hunger Games’  packs quite a punch.

“Opposition to the tax is raising questions about Dublin’s ability to implement a further €9 billion in promised austerity measures over the next four years” - Financial Times, 2 April 2012.

Registration for, and payment of, the Household Tax has collapsed since the Government deadline on March 31.

The 2011 Census and an analysis by a Maynooth academic clearly show that more than 1.8 million households must register for the Household Tax and not 1.6 million as the government is spinning.