Thanks to anti-apartheid activism by Mary Robinson and others, in the 1980s Trinity College ended research ties with South African universities until equality was introduced and human rights were respected in that country. Now, in 2016, ordinary Palestinians face discrimination and upheaval from Israel on a constant basis. Speaking in July about the devastation inflicted on Gaza, outgoing UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon described Israel's policies against the Palestinian people as collective punishment. The situation for ordinary Arab families living in Israel and Palestine is heartbreaking! But we can take a stand for Palestinian rights. TCD's research partners in Israel in the past have included the weapons manufacturer Elbit Security Systems and The Israeli Security and Counter-Terrorism Academy. Today, Trinity's strongest links are with the Weizmann Institute of Science and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, which has built part of its campus on illegal settlement lands. It's time to take a stand for Palestine! Mary Robinson is a champion of global justice, but she's also the Chancellor of TCD, University of Dublin. Call on her to bring an end to research ties between TCD and Israel until the human rights of Palestinians are respected.

Since January 2016, 200,000 people have arrived and more than 2,800 have died in an attempt to reach Europe by sea. Numbers are expected to increase as climate change and conflict drive refugees out of their home countries seeking safety on the European continent. Following the tragic death of a Syrian boy on a Turkish beach in September 2015, Taoiseach Enda Kenny called the migrant crisis a "human catastrophe" and pledged to increase the number of refugees that Ireland accepted to 4,000 people. Almost a year after that promise, only a dozen have arrived and our government has made no plans to uphold that promise. Sign this petition to demand that Enda Kenny stop ignoring this crisis and uphold Ireland's promise to save 4,000 people from this catastrophe.

University College Cork is a welcoming and inclusive place of learning. In recent years, Dr. Watson has made a number of statements that are racist, misogynistic and homophobic. As such, it is unacceptable that members of the Governing Body would choose to name a building in UCC after a person with such a viewpoint as Dr. Watson. Therefore, we encourage you to sign this petition to show that students, staff members and the wider public will not accept this decision.

Twelve percent of the population of Ireland are migrants, of whom so many have the right to vote. Migrants bring enterprise and initiative, and in order to actively participate in Irish society, migrants must be visible in all spheres of Irish life and be represented proportionally to our number in the Irish population in all decision making processes. Irish political actors have done little or nothing to reach out to immigrants during elections. Integration has dropped off the radar and from the programmes of all political parties. A diverse republic needs inclusive politics and institutions that reflect the composition of a diverse society. Government bodies and local authorities need to do much more to engage with immigrant communities. We, the Migrant-Led Coalition, are calling on all politicians and candidates to sign up to our election manifesto and pledge to represent the needs of their migrant constituents.

Last Friday on one of coldest nights of the year, 17 families were evicted from a Traveller local authority halting site that had been decommissioned by Louth County Council. Families were given just hours to pack their belongings and either remove their caravans or mobile homes themselves or face them being impounded and having to pay €1,000 to get them back. All families, including a mother and newborn baby, must be gone by tomorrow. The council have not arranged alternative accommodation for these families and now, they like hundreds of others will be made homeless. Until Traveller specific accommodation is built, we are calling on Louth County Council to treat people with dignity and respect and to provide alternative accommodation for the Travelling community of Woodland Park.

I have just read a report detailing the appalling and disgusting conditions under which homeless families in Ireland have to live. Yesterday I read about the conditions in the temporary refugee camp at Calais in France, which is run under the auspices of the French and UK governments and the EU. The conditions for the homeless in Calais and the homeless in Ireland are horrifyingly similar. Yet the Irish Government is pleading that it has no funds available to intervene and is sticking rigidly to its market economy addiction. This is not good enough when our Government is willing to throw money at bankers and developers and any johnny-come-lately who has robbed the people and contributed to the enforcement of the austerity regime. The Government's inept handling of our housing crisis is a contributory factor to the increase in anti-refugee sentiment in the country. This is cowardly behaviour on the part of those who claim to lead Ireland and who boast about what they claim to have done for Ireland. Front up for the sake of the unfortunate people who are suffering and set an example in 2016.

As I am both a health care assistant and help my partner with her parents who need full time care, she only gets €109 a week which is shambolic for all she does and saves the country like all other carers who look after their children, parents, and young adults with disabilities, they need more support as medication, treatment and other outgoings are very expensive and it is unrealistic to expect these people to live on such a small allowance.

Support to alleviate continuous sufferings of the Undocumented people

It is so important because i experienced this back in 1998 when i first came to Ireland. I was even pushed out of a pub in Temple Bar for no reason. I reported to the police but nothing was done. I was shocked when my brother that came into the country recently experienced the same discrimination at the point of entry into clubs and pubs.

The system has raised major human rights concerns and the toll that it takes on its residents has been well documented by NGOs, legal practitioners, experts and international bodies with the Ombudsman and the special rapporteur on child protection both calling on Ireland to abolish Direct Provision. Fine Gael, Fianna Fail and the Green Party are currently negotiating a program for government.(PFG) The abolition of the dehumanising Direct provision system has become a key sticking point in the negotiations with Fine Gael and Fianna Fail not wishing to make a firm commitment to its abolition in the PFG. In order to ratify the PFG, each party will require a vote by its members and so every member of those parties has a voice on the issue. In addition to signing this petition; Please contact your local Fine Gael, Fianna Fail and Green Party TD and Councillors and ask them to commit to only supporting a PFG which contains a firm and time limited commitment to the end of Direct Provision. Sample e-mail text: “Dear [Deputy/Councillor], I am writing to you as my elected representative. Your party is currently negotiating a program for government and, if agreed, you will soon be asked to vote to ratify this. I am asking that you contact your negotiating team in your party and let them know that you can only support a program for government that contains a firm and time limited commitment to the end of the dehumanising Direct Provision. Yours sincerely, You can find details of your elected representatives here https://www.whoismytd.com/ You can find more information on Direct Provision here: https://www.irishrefugeecouncil.ie/listing/category/direct-provision https://doras.org/direct-provision/ https://www.newyorker.com/news/dispatch/irelands-strange-cruel-system-for-asylum-seekers

We cannot keep losing young men and women due to lack of support from our NHS. In the last 2 years four of my sons friends have opted to end their lives by suicide. I do not want my son to be the next loss. Please help.

This is very important as in education, in Ireland many students have witnessed quite a lot discrimination from teachers and students out of ignorance or due to their lack of understanding of different cultures. For example during my secondary education, teachers would often discourage students of an immigrant background from doing higher level subjects because they believed that these students were not capable of doing as well as their Irish classmates, therefore limiting their capacity of achieving greatness due to their ethnicity. This had an effect on countless students leading their self confidence to decrease which had a detrimental effect on their mental health and their academic performance. Students are often very uneducated about racial issues and discrimination. As a result of this they can be quite insensitive towards students who are different. This is a very important issue that needs a lot of attention to be able to stop it.