Because Dublin needs a proper bookshop, one with a huge range of titles and a massive secondhand section to spend hours browsing in!

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

Over the last few years Dublin has lost a number of irreplaceable cultural spaces and hubs. The demolition of The Cobblestone pub will add to the city's cultural demise and add another soulless hotel to the Smithfield area.

As well as signing this petition, please register an objection with Dublin City Council if you can. It costs €20. Quote the planning file (3617/21), give reasons why you think it shouldn't go ahead, but your address on the letter and upload it to the planning system. The closing date is 4 November. Demolition of The Cobblestone to make room for yet another hotel. This will involve demolition of the backroom venue, the smoking area, and the rooms upstairs where music and Irish language classes were held, leaving only the main bar swallowed up by a 9 story hotel essentially turning the leftovers into a residents bar. We really need people to oppose this. The Cobblestone is far more than just a pub. It is a bastion of Irish culture. People come from all over the world to share and learn Irish music, song, dance, language and storytelling. It is at the centre of this 'folk revival' we're seeing in Ireland. The scene developed within those walls. The Cobblestone is vital for this community. Beyond that, and more importantly, the Cobblestone is the main hub for the broader traditional Irish Music community in the country. I have played with and learned from some of the very best musicians in the sessions. I have listened to some amazing music at The Night Before Larry Got Stretched sessions and Pipers Clubs gigs from musicians and singers you otherwise might never get a chance to hear. I have watched younger musicians develop into great musicians. I've watched dancers dance, singers sing, story tellers recite stories. There is nowhere else that can match the cobblestone for any of this and there's no place that promotes Irish culture to the same level as The Cobblestone. This is an attack on our culture in a City that's getting swallowed up by blind greed. We need as many people to oppose this as possible.

We can’t have another part of historic Dublin succumb to “development”! Merchant’s Arch is there since 1821 and is part of Dublin’s culture, history and personality.

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

In Northern Ireland, no matter who we are, our everyday speech is littered with Gaelic and Scots words. Many of the names of our towns and cities are derived from Irish, and it was historically spoken by many Protestant people across Ulster. It's wrong that a vile social media campaign has led this importance educational resource to move premises. Shared spaces where we learn from each other are vital for our peace-building and our quality of life. We offer our support and respect and stand firmly with all those involved in Naíscoil na Seolta.

The decision to charge admission to a current exhibition at the National Gallery of Ireland is contrary to the gallery's longstanding policy of accessibility for everyone. The public is being asked to pay to see works, gifted or purchased with public funds, that now form part of the gallery’s permanent collection. In other words, we are now paying twice to see these works of art! The National Gallery's mission claims to be the country's most popular free visitor attraction and promised to be 'Dedicated to bringing people and art together' which is why it is so important that access remains free of charge so that everyone who lives in and visits Ireland is able to access all works of art. When €500,000 in capital funding to support the gallery’s acquisitions programme for 2020 was announced by the Minister of Arts, director of the National Gallery of Ireland Sean Rainbird noted that the expanding national collection “of course belongs to the people of Ireland”.

#Letuswork! Who are we? We are the people who make your special days memorable. We are the piano player in the corner, the band in your local bar and the singer who brought solemn grace to your loved one’s funeral. We are the band who will forever feature in your wedding day memories, and the two piece act that learned and played those special songs for your parent’s wedding anniversary. We are the people who entertain you on New Year’s Eve in the bar down the road and the trad players lauded by Bord Fáilte to woo tourists. And we are sinking. We are not the ticketed events industry- we are Ordinary Working Musicians. We ask you the public for your solidarity to highlight our plight. It is estimated that more than 850,000 performances were lost in 2020. Please show us your support by signing our petition or by joining one of our nationwide protests on June 23rd. We need our government to allow us to work and to support us until the time comes when we can earn our living again and to include musicians over 66 years who paid their taxes prior to the pandemic. We need subsidies for licenced premises so that they can afford to employ us. Collectively we make up the largest part of the entertainment sector, yet we are persistently overlooked. We’re tired of talking. We want to sing.

The Hawthorn tree has been an important part of Irish life since time began and appears in many of our ancient legends and folklore. The haw, or fruit of the Hawthorn can be eaten and was often referred to as the poor man's apple or fairy apple possibly due to the fact it resembles a tiny apple. The connection to fairies continues with lone Hawthorns in fields being called The Fairy Tree and so being protected by the landowners. They also appear at many of the Holy Wells around the country. The Hawthorn is particularly spectacular in May/June when it is in full bloom and is a stunning feature on the landscape quite as spectacular as the Cherry Blossom is in Japan which is celebrated there and rightly so. We should honour the Hawthorn in the same manner. By acknowledging the Hawthorn we will keep the stories alive while also helping towards reminding us to protect our biodiversity as Hawthorns grow in our hedgerows and are home and food for many of our native creatures. By making it our national flowering tree we can educate our people on biodiversity, heritage and culture and use her beauty to attract visitors during the months of May and June.

Tolka Park is one of Ireland’s most significant sites of sporting culture and history. Since 1924, the stadium has been enmeshed in the cultural life and sporting traditions of Dublin City. As a stadium, Tolka has a proud legacy; hosting the first floodlit football match in the Republic of Ireland in 1953, being the venue for the first televised League of Ireland game in 1996/7, and becoming the first all-seater stadium in domestic football in 1999. Tolka Park is, and always has been an asset to Irish football and to the local community – acting as a home for Drumcondra FC, Home Farm FC and since 1989, Shelbourne. It has hosted games at every level, from local and junior football, right up to the top European competitions. The Save Tolka Park Campaign is a coalition of local residents, football fans and activists united in opposition to the sale of the stadium to private developers. We believe, that with the right investment and planning, Tolka Park can be rejuvenated as an asset to the community – hosting football at every level, while also acting as a community hub with additional amenities for local people. We have a proposal, launching on June 10th, that sets out how this can be achieved and we are appealing to you to help us make these plans a reality. As City councillors and the Minister responsible, we are asking you to act to protect an irreplaceable part of our sporting history, and to ensure that Tolka Park continues as a backdrop for dreams and memories for years to come.

A recent Ernrst and Young (EY) report for The Arts Council stated that at the end of August 2020, 58% of workers in the sector were wholly reliant on the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) or the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS). The EY report also stated that in 2020 the recession in the Arts sector was expected be around -55% compared with -11% in the Irish economy on a whole. In the live performance and events sector there are 35,000 full time employees. Of 343 firms surveyed in June 2020 by Event Industry Ireland, 57% of companies have laid-off staff on a temporary basis and a further 8% have let staff go permanently. The Programme for Government – Our Shared Future contained a commitment for a Universal Basic Income (UBI), in the lifetime of the Government. This commitment was consolidated by recommendations from the Arts Recovery Task Force which stated “Pilot a universal basic income scheme for a three-year period in the arts, culture, audio-visual and live performance and events sectors”. Point 11 commits to the introduction of a Universal Basic Income pilot in the lifetime of the Government. Universal Basic Income is defined as an unconditional State payment that each citizen receives. The payment is designed to provide enough to cover the basic cost of living and provide a modicum of financial security. All other income would then be earned separately and subject to taxation. The scheme should be ‘opt in’ and other workers from these sectors who do not opt in can be used as a control group against which to measure the pilot. I am seeking your support in the delivery of these commitments by Government as a matter of urgency. I would be grateful if you would confirm your support and if you would advise of the steps you have taken to assist in the delivery of the promised pilot scheme for a UBI.