Growing anti-racism in this country must be tackled face on. Deputy Grealish represents a large population of African decent and his comments are unacceptable and perpetuate racism.

My name is Laura Angela I’m the chairwoman for Justice for all women & children this year I accepted a Irish Traveller pride award in intersectionality in which was presented by the amazing Catherine cordless. It’s so important as my mother is a survivor of a abusive industrial school. While there she was abused over who she and her mother was and was made to hate her ethnicity and faced very traumatic experiences of abuse. Her mother Angelina was sent to a laundry for 27 years and was renamed Angela. While there she was recommended a hysterectomy by the doctors. Instead the order used her up until her dying day and ignored the doctors recommendations for over a decade after it was made. My nan died of ovarian cancer if given the treatment she needed she could be here to tell you her story. Instead she lays in a mass grave in cork with 72 other women in which I have been visiting since being a small child. Angelina had three daughters. Her eldest daughter Margaret was 14 when she was out into Sunday wells Magdalene laundry run by the good shepherds in cork. When she left she left for Liverpool. She returned to cork to find her mother and headed straight to St. Vincent’s the laundry her mum was in. She was told that she should leave and never come back. She returned to liverpool and that coming Christmas committed suicide on a day for family, Christmas Day. Angelina’s youngest daughter Bridget was adopted. For 5 years my nan was refusing to sign adoption papers for Bridget while in the laundry. It was only when they used my mum Mary who was in the industrial school and said if she signed the papers she would be given visits by Mary who was in the industrial school and was made to fear her mother. Knowing that not many got the opportunity to even see their children again she took the deal and signed the papers. From there from the age of seven onwards my mum mary was made to visit her mum in the Magdalene laundry but it wasn’t the first time she would have entered those doors. In the 1960s a commission called the commission of itinerancy was taking place. Traveller children was being taken from their family’s and put into industrial schools. The women & children was taken and forced to work in institutions while the aim was to isolate the men on the camps in attempt to eradicate the whole population. Figures called the “cruelty men”” would attend camps on the side of the road and conduct inspections. My nan was in Tuam when my nan took to the side of the road with her latter and travelled to Middleton. A cruelty man approached the site and did a inspection. Although in reports all her children was deemed well nourished and cared for, my Nan had been labelled a “itinerant” she lied regarding being married as her children was illegitimate. But she was put into a county home and was found to be lying. She then escaped the county home with my mum Mary aged two and half. She was brought back by Garda and in the reports she states she was trying to get back to her family in Tuam which mentioned the name Patrick ward within. They didn’t tend to write down the fathers name but because of her attempted escape it gave us some direction as then through DNA and research we found out my mums grandfather (the father to my mum dad) was called a Patrick ward. But from there my mum and her mother was sent to the laundry while they waited for the child’s placement, a nun remembers the night my mum mary was ripped from Angelina in the Magdalene laundry and she was bundled in the car in the car park of it. My mum has been through the Ryan report, mcayleese report and is now facing the mother and baby home commission. During the Ryan report they was just looking at the abuse within the industrial schools so although my mothers statement spoke of her being brought up to the laundry and her mother. This was excluded this as they was claiming at the time these institutions was private. During the mcayleese report they just acknowledged the living working residents and didn’t even provide a minutes silence on the night to the dead my mum sat in the Dàil heartbroken. This meant that child residents/ visitors and their dead mothers was excluded from gaining justice. After the 2013 apology to just the living working residents. We applied to cork council for the exhumation of my nan. We was sent a response letter in 2014 stating the requirements of we would need to bare all costs and we would also need the sisters of charity permission. We have wrote many letters. Had a solicitor write letters and they have never responded in regards to providing of their permission. I have written a book in regards to my mother’s and nan story called The Tinker Menace; The diary of an Irish Traveller which gives a detailed account of our journey and which in detail also lays bare the cover up around the institutions and the effects it had on my family. I am starting this petition to show the order and government how much public support is behind the removal process of my nan and to force them to both take action as they are both responsible. It really means a lot to move my nan and rebury her in a dignified site in which isn’t associated with all the traumatic feelings that arise for my mum when she attends the mass grave. I personally feel due to the fact their was another Magdalene mass grave at another site in which they opened as they sold the land and found more bodies without death certificates - no Garda investigation was put in place they simply put death certificates in place. I think they fear history repeating itself. Please sign and share our petition as far as possible together let’s give the freedom my nan always deserved finally back and some form of justice. Thank you all, for more information regarding the campaign please visit our page: https://www.facebook.com/Justice4AllWomenAndChildren/

Mike Pence presides over a cruel and inhuman system of detention at the US - Mexico border. He's also anti LGBTQIA+ rights and he supports conversion therapy for gay and bisexual people. As a country, we have a duty to say no to treating him as an official guest, as his politics flies in the face of everything we stand for. We certainly shouldn't roll out the red carpet for him to visit.

The rise of racism in Dublin is something we are all very worried about. Last week, we saw Nazi salutes on Barrow street, and now we're seeing immigration officers operating out of Dublin Regional Homelessness Executive offices to target migrants experiencing homelessness. Dublin should be a welcoming city, that stands up to racism in all its forms; from the far right organising on our streets, to the National Government using their powers to target migrants in need of housing. Declaring Dublin a Sanctuary City could be the first step in making sure Ireland is a welcoming country that rejects racism in all its forms.

As a fellow human, please support this petition to allow people of Kashmir to be heard and justice served

Linda Fairstein achieved her fame & fortune at the expense of five innocent individuals who became known as The Central Park 5. These men were children at the time aged between 14-16. There was not a single shred of physical evidence linking these boys to the crime she hunted them for. She led the investigation that fundamentally changed these men’s lives forever & unfairly tarnished their reputations. She then went on to launch her writing career in fictional true crime. And not that any more reason to get her "stories" off the shelves is needed, but she also represents Harvey Weinstein (media mogul , serial sexual assault perpetrator), proving her actionsin 1989 were never about justice for sexual assault survivors as she is representing the perpetrators now. This dangerous, vile woman used the Central Park 5 case to advance her the aspiring career as a crime writer. For Raymond Santana Jr, Korey Wise, Yusef Salaam, Antron McCray and Kevin Richardson, whom she KNOWINGLY & WRONGFULLY hunted and coerced into a conviction & because of her everything she has gained at their expense, I am starting a petition to ask ALL retailers & book publishers in Ireland and around the world to stop selling Linda Fairstein books or any product that is linked to her.

For two years, Human Rights Watch has spoken with Airbnb about their brokering of rentals in West Bank settlements that are illegal under international humanitarian law and for which Palestinian ID holders are effectively barred from entering. The settlement movement has sought to encourage tourism in occupied land, with the help of the Israeli government, which established national parks there. A leaked European Union report said some projects were being used “as a political tool to … support, legitimise and expand settlements”. Irish people know only too well the negative consequences of imperialist racist occupation. [1] https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/nov/19/airbnb-removes-rentals-in-israeli-west-bank-settlements

To Sarah McTernan We call on you not to perform in the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest in Israel. It is a great honour and testament to your talent to be selected to represent Ireland, yet we must ask you to listen to the call from Palestinian artists, journalists and civil society organisations for people of conscience to refuse to take part in the Eurovision Song Contest in Israel due to that state’s oppression of the Palestinian people. We support that call, as do thousands of people in Ireland and internationally, and are respectfully asking that you decline to take part in this year’s Eurovision. While Israel - a state which has repeatedly been accused of war crimes by the United Nations and human rights organisations, and openly boasts of how it uses art and culture to whitewash its crimes - continues its oppression of the Palestinian people, no artist of conscience should participate in this ‘culturewashing’ event. Performing at the Eurovision in Israel is a deeply political act; you will be expected to sing for 500 members of the Israeli military who have had seats reserved by the state. We sincerely hope that you will not countenance performing for a military which just last week was found by a UN Commission of Inquiry to likely have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity by killing deliberately targeting and killing civilians, including children, medics, journalists and disabled people in its attacks on unarmed Palestinian protesters in Gaza. These attacks are ongoing on a daily basis, and it should be unconscionable for any artist representing Ireland to be entertaining members of this military just a few miles down the road. Ireland has a proud tradition of standing with the oppressed and against injustice and we sincerely hope you will take this opportunity to stand on the right side of history by refraining from crossing the Palestinian picket line. It would be a principled stand for freedom, justice, equality and a show of solidarity and empathy with the oppressed.

Adults who came to Ireland as children should not be forced to pay the same amount for citizenship as someone who chose to come to the country as an adult and has lived in the country of Ireland for 5 years. There are currently people living abroad that have never and will never step foot on Irish soil that are more entitled to Irish citizenship because they have parents or grandparents who are Irish. These adults were raised in Irish culture and identify culturally as Irish. Many speak or have some level of the Irish language, went to Irish primary and secondary schools, attended Irish colleges, play Irish sports such as hurling and Gaelic football with their local communities, vote in local Irish elections, are members of Irish political parties, currently have employment in Ireland and are paying taxes in Ireland. They are as much a part of Ireland and Irish society as a child born in the country. They should not be expected to pay such exorbitant fees for a piece of paper that tells them they are officially an Irish citizen when it is clear that they are already Irish. No-one should be rejected or taken advantage of by the country they call their home so I ask for your support to help adults who were raised in Ireland to be given the citizenship they deserve.

Lebanon, along with Turkey and Jordan, has been extraordinary in providing refuge to Syrians fleeing war and persecution in their homeland since 2011. While the numbers and circumstances of how the refugees have been accommodated vary greatly, the willingness of Syria's neighbours to accept proportionately massive numbers of refugees has undoubtedly saved countless thousands of lives. In Lebanon, specifically, with a native population of just 4.4 million, upwards of 1 million Syrians have sought refuge. This, clearly, has created massive challenges and strains on the services and infrastructure of a country which itself is only recovering from years of turmoil and strife but, in general, Syrians have been able to feel relatively safe in Lebanon. Of late however, elements of the Lebanese army have escalated a campaign of intimidation and harassment against Syrians with the putative intention of forcing people to return to Syria. Just last week, on two successive nights, soldiers under the command of Lebanese Army Intelligence Colonel Melhem Hadchiti and 9th Brigade Commander Brigadier General Pierre Abu Assaf carried out raids in around 30 camps around Arsal in freezing temperatures. People were forced out of their tents into the cold with no regard for their welfare or dignity while their tents were ransacked. Many hundreds were detained and suffered torture and abuse. As a country with a long and distinguished military record in Lebanon and the Golan Heights in the form of UN peacekeeping deployments, the Irish Army is uniquely placed to exert its influence with the Lebanese Army. We are urgently but respectfully requesting the Minister for Defence Leo Varadkar to use his influence and good offices with the UN as well as with his counterpart in Lebanon Yaacoub Sarraf to ensure that these unforgivable violations against suffering and defenceless people cease immediately. References: Deutsche Welle: Germany says Syrian deportees could face reprisals: reports https://www.dw.com/en/germany-says-syrian-deportees-could-face-reprisals-reports/a-46367849 Out of Syria: shifting routes and returns: https://www.iss.europa.eu/content/out-syria-shifting-routes-and-returns Union of Relief and Development Associations - Number of Syrian refugees in Lebanon : http://urda.org.lb/en/details.aspx?ID=1426

‘The Control of Economic Activity (Occupied Territories) Bill, 2018’ seeks to ban imports to Ireland from illegal settlements in countries which are illegally occupied, in breach of International Law. This is a chance for Ireland to stand up for the rights of vulnerable people – it is about respecting international law and refusing to support illegal activity and human suffering. Under international law (the Geneva Convention), the transfer by a State of its civilian population into a territory it has militarily occupied is a war crime. This legislation would apply to territories where there is a clear international legal consensus on the status of the occupation. As it stands, only the occupied Palestinian territories have been confirmed as occupied by the International Court of Justice. This Bill does not implement a boycott of Israeli goods, or single out Israel. It only bans the import and sale of goods produced in settlements that are illegal under international law. The European Union’s position is absolutely clear: Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory are “illegal under international law, constitute an obstacle to peace and threaten to make a two-state solution impossible”. Despite this, EU states, including Ireland, continue to make the settlements financially viable through trade and economic activity. The legal basis of the Bill and its permissibility under EU law are confirmed by several formal legal opinions: Michael Lynn, Senior Counsel in Ireland, Professor James Crawford of the University of Cambridge, Senior Counsel in the UK and one of the most eminent authorities on international law worldwide and former Attorney General Senator Michael McDowell have all confirmed the legality of the Bill. This Bill has cross-party support from all parties in the Dáil and Seanad but the government is refusing to support it. This is why we are calling on Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney and his party to back this Bill as we want all the people of Israel and Palestine to live in peace and security. We stand in support of international law and for the principles of peace and justice.

It’s one of 9 local authorities not to drawn down any funding allocated for it to provide the accommodation. Over €1.2 million in funding earmarked for the provision of the accommodation has gone unspent.