What needs to change now: 1. Real choice of place of birth. While we welcome “Home-from-home” rooms as a much needed option for water immersion in hospitals, these rooms are no substitute for home birth or birth centres. The National Maternity Strategy outlined that all supported pathway, or uncomplicated, pregnancies would give birth in birth centres or home birth. As such, we request: • The development of truly midwifery-led birthing centres in all 19 maternity units or catchment areas. There are currently only two, the same number as before the strategy was created.  • The restoration and expansion of public home birth. Reinstate services where they are suspended, like in Limerick, and extend access nationwide so eligible women in the supported care pathway can choose a home birth without unnecessary barriers. 2. Respect midwives’ autonomy. Make midwifery-led care the default for uncomplicated pregnancies, protect community midwifery schemes, and ensure midwives can practise within their full scope. 3. Make informed consent non-negotiable. Provide clear information on risks, benefits and alternatives — including the option of no intervention — and honour valid refusals. End routine, non-evidence-based interventions and apply national guidance consistently. 4. Prioritise water immersion and facilitating water births. 15 of the 19 maternity units have at least one birthing pool, but only three offer water birth. Every unit should have at least one birthing pool and every unit should offer water birth. Prioritise this safe option for women with staff training, nationalised protocols and auditing to ensure usage — water is effective natural analgesia and should be supported. 5. Trauma-informed care everywhere. Train staff and resource services so every woman — especially survivors of sexual violence — receives compassionate, sensitive, person-centred care. 6. Transparency & accountability: All too often Maternity Safety Statements (MSS) are incomplete and months behind. Some hospitals fail to publish all clinical incidents and cumulative year to date figures. This is unacceptable and must be resolved. We believe the MSS should also be expanded, publish unit-level data on all interventions, including: • Differentiating methods of induction used, including membrane sweeps, pessaries and oxytocin drip. • Distinguishing between elective, scheduled and emergency caesareans • water immersion  • water birth  • home birth requests and coverage 7. We need clear timelines for full NMS implementation — with service-user and midwifery oversight. This is about choice, safety, dignity, and trust. It’s 2025: mothers and babies in Ireland deserve maternity care that truly centres women and follows the evidence — not convenience or outdated protocols. Add your name to demand real choice and better care. Share this petition with your family, friends and community. Together, we can ensure every mother in Ireland has access to respectful, evidence-based, women-centred care — where informed choice is the standard, not the exception. We also invite you to stand with us at one or more of our rallies to show your support in person. Every voice and presence makes a difference, and together we can create real change. Together, women and families can show that we will no longer accept less — because women, babies, families and midwives deserve better.  Rally Information Sligo: October 11th, 11am, Queen Maeve Square, Sligo Town Limerick: October 11th, 11am, Location TBD Dublin: October 23rd 2pm, At the gates of Leinster House

End Privatisation by Stealth - End Outsourcing It is important because Abtran, despite receiving millions in taxpayer-funded government contracts, refuses to abide by a Labour Court recommendation to engage with a trade union, pays many of its staff the minimum wage, and makes use of offshore structures in the British Virgin Islands to reduce its tax liabilities. When a company entrusted with delivering public services does not have service pay, adequate Christmas bonuses or collective bargaining for its workers, it undermines both the integrity of our public procurement system and the principles of fairness that should underpin public service delivery. This is not just a workplace issue—it is a matter of accountability, transparency, and value for money for everyone who pays taxes in Ireland. Other people should join this campaign because it is about ensuring that public money is spent responsibly and ethically. If we allow companies like Abtran to continue receiving huge state contracts without scrutiny, we risk normalising low pay, weak worker protections, and aggressive tax avoidance in Ireland’s public sector supply chain. By standing together, we can push the Public Accounts Committee to act in the public interest, demand higher standards from contractors, and protect the rights of workers. Joining this campaign is not only about supporting Abtran employees—it is about demanding a fairer, more transparent Ireland where taxpayer funds are used to strengthen, not weaken, our communities.

Help keep families together through support .

It brought joy to the community and it was a tradition enjoyed by many people of all ages.

This petition and email campaign is about basic human rights. Work provides purpose and independence and everyone should have the right to work.  It helps IPAs meet their basic needs. Helps IPAs out of limbo and improves their mental wellbeing.  Giving everyone equal treatment is also part of the National Plan Against Racism. 

The question of Palestine is directly connected to our responsibilities. Ireland’s recognition of Palestinian statehood in May 2024 reflects its commitment to international law, human rights, and the principle of self-determination. When Irish cultural institutions accept funding from entities involved, directly or indirectly, in settlement expansion, weapons manufacture, or surveillance against Palestinian civilians, they contradict these principles and the values of the Irish public who fund them. No Climate Justice Without Social Justice Three of the corporate partners listed on IMMA’s website are problematic: Hennessy    Soho House     BNP Paribas Hennessy’s parent company, LVMH, has been linked to human rights violations and environmental harm, including deforestation, carbon-intensive supply chains, and forced labour.  Owner Bernard Arnault also invests in Israeli cyber security and has been involved in illegal surveillance of activists and journalists. (See also: Paris judge approves 10 million euro settlement with LVMH in spy case) Soho House is a global network of private membership clubs for people in the creative industries. It operates a club in Tel Aviv, Jaffa, which has been documented to displace Palestinian communities. BNP Paribas. Although the partnership ended in 2019, the company remains listed as a sponsor of The Freud Circle on IMMA’s website, lending legitimacy to its practices. BNP Paribas finances fossil fuel projects, invests heavily in companies supporting illegal settlements in Palestine and has purchased shares in Israeli weapons manufacturers. All of this contributes to both climate and human rights harm. Removing misleading or outdated sponsor listings is a necessary step toward transparency and accountability. IMMA Policy Framework Opportunities IMMA’s draft ethical policy is a welcome step, but it must go further by addressing financing as well as manufacturing of weapons, banning ties to settlement infrastructure, and explicitly excluding partners linked to human rights abuses or the war economy. Can A Public Institution Divest? Yes. There are clear precedents in Ireland: Dublin City University was the first Irish university to divest from fossil fuels in 2015, setting a precedent for ethical investment policies in higher education Trinity College Dublin achieved full institutional divestment, proving that large national institutions can successfully navigate such transitions while meeting statutory obligations University Galway has also divested from fossil fuels, and both DCU and GU have divested from all association with Israel Cork City Council and South Dublin County Council have both declared themselves an Apartheid Free Zone, proving that public institutions can act within existing statutory frameworks IMMA’s COMMITMENT Director Annie Fletcher wrote in last year’s Earth Rising Impact Report: “IMMA's role as a catalyst for social progress and cultural innovation is perfectly reflected in Earth Rising. It aligns with our five-year strategy to foster dialogue, inclusion, and creativity while encouraging urgent action to protect the planet and build a more sustainable world.” We welcome this commitment. Now is the time to turn those words into action. Add your voice. Sign the petition below to encourage IMMA to reflect the values of justice, human rights, and environmental responsibility in its partnerships.

I live on a Local road. i see all types of pedestrians using this road for their daily walks. these include i see families with young children i see mothers pushing their prams. i see dog walkers. i see elderly friends of the locality going about their daily keep fit walks , some with hi-viz jackets. i myself have had lots of near misses with passing vehicles failing to give an inch when overtaking me.  i have spoken to walkers who will not use certain roads because they are afraid to walk on the roads.

Kinship carers are preventing thousands of children in Ireland from entering state care, saving the State billions, and keeping families together. Now government must match their commitment in the Programme for Government with real, systemic change. The only way to succeed with this is to ensure kinship families voices are heard and that responses are collaborative across Government Departments. Sign and share this petition to stand with kinship families and call for a cross-departmental approach that ensures fair recognition, rights, and resources for every child in kinship care.

Since October 2023, Gaza has faced one of the deadliest assaults in modern history. Over 300,000 Palestinians have been killed, the majority of them women and children. Entire communities have been erased, and the genocide continues daily. Coca-Cola is not a neutral brand in this context. The company: Operates in illegal Israeli settlements built on stolen Palestinian land. Has supply chains and business practices that profit from occupation and apartheid. Uses global events and sponsorships to whitewash its image while remaining complicit in human rights abuses. Electric Picnic is more than just a festival it is a cultural institution in Ireland, a space where values of creativity, freedom, and solidarity are celebrated. Allowing Coca-Cola to sponsor the festival undermines these very values and makes Electric Picnic complicit in whitewashing genocide. By dropping Coca-Cola, Electric Picnic can send a powerful message: our culture will not be used to cover up crimes against humanity. This would not only honor the hundreds of thousands of lives lost in Gaza but also set a precedent for ethical sponsorship in the music and arts world. Standing against genocide is not political but is a matter of basic human rights and human dignity.

The new BusConnects plan for Finglas brings some positives – the F1 and F2 will be 24 hour services with high frequency, and the new 24 route will connect Finglas directly to Dublin Airport. But a bus services aren't just about connecting suburbs to the city centre in the fastest way possible. The need for local connections to shops, schools, community facilities, family and friends  is vitally important. These are the everyday journeys that hold our community together. If these local links disappear, people will face longer journeys, overcrowded buses and possible isolation, hitting older people and those with disabilities the hardest. Sign and share this petition to ensure our voices are heard and that we have a bus service works for everyone in Finglas!

Residents of Inchicore and Dublin 8 use the Grand Canal to walk and cycle to work, and school. Local residents walk their dogs and relax with their children and family along this green space. The lamp posts along this section of the Grand Canal are rusty and have graffiti on them, some of which is 24 years. The run down lamp posts are taking away from the relaxation and feeling of safety on the tow path for walkers, cyclists and joggers using the tow path. This is a straight forward maintence job.

The siege and genocide must end. The people of Gaza are relying on regular people like us all to keep going - for them. The Global Sumud Flotilla is a coalition of everyday people—organisers, humanitarians, doctors, artists, clergy, lawyers, and seafarers—who believe in human dignity and the power of nonviolent action.