Many professionals working in Education, IT, Healthcare, Media/Technology and other essential areas of the economy have to travel for work and study reasons. The delays, fees and difficulties we face in getting travel visas are far too difficult and impacting on our jobs , studies and on our workplaces.

Procedures should be simplified so that people at the border can enter without needing a passport. More than 800,000 Ukrainians have fled their country since the beginning of the Russian invasion. But it is not only Ukrainian citizens who are queuing to leave, but also foreign students and people who have already been granted asylum in Ukraine. Europe must protect all people fleeing war, regardless of their nationality, the colour of their skin, gender identity or sexual identity. This means not only agreeing to give people the right to live and work in Europe, but also removing barriers to entering the territory, such as the need for a passport. Many people have never traveled abroad and do not have a passport. They must also ensure that ethnic minorities and foreigners in Ukraine are not treated differently. Irish Ministers have a unique chance to prove that the European Union can respect Article 1 of the human rights convention: "Women and men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions can only be based on common utility." Image credit: BEATA ZAWRZEL/NURPHOTO VIA GETTY IMAGES

Ireland has international humanitarian obligations to act and respond to this crisis. The crisis in Ukraine has already forced people to flee for their lives and their safety. People power has previously forced the government to agree to an increase in the number of refugees we have accepted in Ireland. Now we must step up again to make the government live up to this commitment.

Right now, the Integrated Education Bill is going through the NI Assembly - but those opposed to integrated education are misleading schools and parents, telling them the Bill will harm existing schools - it won't. The Bill can pass if enough parties support it - and what the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) do will be crucial. Last month, Doug Beattie, the UUP Leader, signalled his support for integrated education and said "Northern Ireland has been blighted by division.. and yet we don't take the brave steps to try and deal with that division...we need to end educational apartheid which is taking place here in Northern Ireland." We need Doug and his MLAs to support the Integrated Education Bill, and resist attempts by the Bill's opponents to sign a "Petition of Concern" - an Assembly motion that would doom the Bill. Write now and tell Doug how you feel!

Right now in Ireland, under the law which is supposed to provide international protection status to refugees (International Protection Act) is indirectly discriminating against same-sex couples. Those who want to reunite with their partners must have been either married or been in a civil union before arriving in Ireland to seek asylum. In lots of instances, people seeking international protection comes from countries where homosexuality is not as accepted as it is in Ireland. Between Jan 2017 and Dec 2021, there were over 670 applications for family reunification, and not one was for a same-sex couple because they cannot meet the requirements as set out by this law. The International Protection Act should be amended to put same-sex couples on equal footing and in with a fair chance at family reunification. NOTES: Dublin Inquirer |https://dublininquirer.com/2022/02/09/gay-refugees-face-extra-hurdles-when-trying-to-bring-their-partners-to-join-them-in-ireland

Over 500,000 Roma, Gypsy and Travellers were killed in the Holocaust. This content is an insult to those who died, and those who still mourn them. #StopTravellerHate #

Institutional care is harmful to children and orphanage volunteering puts children at increased risk. There is a growing global movement working to transform the way we care for children. Care leavers and child protection experts, disability advocates, faith-based and community organisations have come together to better support families and other caregivers so that children can grow up in a family and community where they belong, instead of being placed into institutions. You can support this global care reform movement by making a pledge that you will neither promote nor engage in volunteering and/or visits to institutions for children. You can also pledge to further educate yourself and people around you about the harm caused by orphanage volunteering and institutions and to only support volunteering opportunities that put the best interests and wellbeing of children and families first.

82% of the Irish people support neutrality in all its aspects.

What is Stamp 3 visa? Stamp 3 visa is a type of residence permit that states people cannot work or engage in business, trade, or profession. This type of stamp is issued to spouses and children of general work employment permit holders as well as spouses of Non-EEA PhD students in Ireland. Why is this important to us? As skilled immigrants in Ireland we would like to be treated with equality to access employment and contribute to the economy of Ireland. This can only be achieved by removing the obstacles that we have to go through to be considered for employment in Ireland. What can you do to help? We request for your support to petition the Irish government to allow spouses & children of general work employment permit holders and spouses of PhD students to access employment without the requirement of applying for a separate work permit. Useful resources: https://reformstamp3.webador.ie/ http://www.inis.gov.ie/en/inis/pages/registration-stamps https://enterprise.gov.ie/en/What-We-Do/Workplace-and-Skills/Employment-Permits/ http://www.inis.gov.ie/en/INIS/Family%20Reunification%20Policy%20Document.pdf/Files/Family%20Reunification%20Policy%20Document.pdf https://enterprise.gov.ie/en/Publications/Publication-files/Employment-Permits-FAQs-2020.pdf https://enterprise.gov.ie/en/What-We-Do/Workplace-and-Skills/Employment-Permits/Employment-Permit-Eligibility/Immigration-Employment-Permits/

Our migrant young people have so much to contribute to Irish life, but some find that even though they are legally resident, they are unable to access SUSI grants because they don't have the 'right' type of immigration permission to qualify under SUSI's nationality criteria. In practice this means that young migrants face exorbitant international fees when they apply for college or university unless they can secure one of a small number of scholarship places. This effectively locks some migrant young people out of accessing higher education and following their career dreams.

To create a sense of public belonging for all community members, especially those in marginalised or disadvantaged groups.

The government plans to continue with direct provision in existence until the end of 2024. The government has not committed to ending the delays in the international protection process, that greatly exacerbate the impacts of the direct provision system. This failure has severe impacts on people's mental health and ability to integrate in the community. In order to address this ongoing harm, the government must identify suitable alternative modes of accommodation immediately and introduce new modes of accommodation in 2021. Further priorities that government needs to act on right now are identified in the Catherine Day Report (page 83). These actions can and should be done immediately. 1. Carry out vulnerability assessments for all people in the international protection process to identify and accommodate their special reception needs. A pilot program has commenced, but this will need to be heavily resourced to ensure that all people can be assessed, as Ireland has been obliged to do since 2018. 2. The allowances currently paid to people in direct provision should be increased from January 2021 and regularly reviewed in line with the cost of living. (4.12) – This has not been done. 3. The right to work should be made available after 3 months. (5.1) – This has been reduced to 6 months, not 3 months. It should be reduced to 3 months or 0 months without delay. 4. Applicants should be entitled to apply for driving tests and licenses as soon as they have made an application for protection. (5.2) - This has not been done yet. Government has committed to implementing this by summer 2021 in the White Paper. 5. Applicants should have the right to access higher education on the same basis and at the same fees as Irish people, once they meet the qualifying criteria (5.5). Access to education has been expanded but not to this extent; education is a human right, delay is not acceptable. 6. To clear the backlog of current cases a one-off case-processing approach should be introduced for all applications which have been more than two years in the system (6.7). This has not been done and there has been no commitment by the Department of Justice to do so. This priority – the case processing system – is a crucial action that needs immediate implementation by the Department of Justice. The delays in the international protection process have worsened due to the impact of Covid-19, because international protection interviews and Tribunals were paused for many months. People have been left waiting sometimes for over one year for a decision even after their interview. This has a negative effect on people's mental health, ability to integrate in the community and delays the possibility of their family members joining them. As well as the once-off case processing approach for all applications which have been more than two years in the system, the government must act to ensure that interviews take place and decisions issue within specific lengths of time. The Minister for Justice must ensure that the International Protection Office has the resources, staff IT equipment to deliver this even in challenging situations such as Covid-19. Minister Roderic O’ Gorman has called the timeline of the end of 2024 ambitious. Calling this ambitious is a disgrace. We know that our government can act quickly in the common interest when it has needed to since the start of COVID-19. We’ve had 21 years of people in Ireland living in direct provision and the harm that this does to people and to our communities. The government must act now identify suitable alternative modes of accommodation immediately, while also taking immediate actions to fully implement the priorities identified in the Catherine Day Report, and introduce new modes of accommodation in 2021.