The reason for this request is to protect our children, parents and guardians, from the traffic on the main road, R610. As the school is situated on a steep hill with no access for a school bus or coach, the children and teachers have to walk down to the main road and gather behind the Grass Island to catch a bus or coach, or to walk to the playground or the tennis courts in the village. Why should the county councillors care?                                                      Because the proposed plan to change the road layout has not been proven to be an improvement but will be a serious threat to Road Safety for parents and school children. The Grass Island has been and remains a safe solution for the traffic needs of the school and village.  The implementation of the Active Travel Greenways Improvements cannot threaten the daily life of our school children or their parents.

As a public facility, Mullingar Swimming Pool has a responsibility to remain inclusive and accessible to all members of the community.  In a country surrounded by water, the ability to swim is an essential life skill, and access to effective learning pathways must be protected.  We respectfully call on Westmeath County Council to:  • Review and reconsider the decision to ban private swimming lesson • Acknowledge and address the current shortfall in available classes and access within existing programmes • Engage with pool users, parents, instructors, and adult learners before implementing major policy changes • Explore balanced alternatives, such as designated times that allow private instruction to continue alongside public use We believe there is a fair and practical solution that supports safety, inclusion, and access for everyone.  

Because every child deserves Magic at Christmas, even children who are employed in slave labour in the cocoa industry who supply Cadbury's. " Mondelēz International — the food giant behind Oreos, Cadbury, and Toblerone — has spent years cultivating an image as a sustainability leader, earning high environmental scores and pledging to eliminate deforestation and human rights abuses from its supply chains. Investigative reporting, however, reveals a starkly different reality: of a company that appears more focused on protecting its reputation than preventing harm to vulnerable people and the planet. For decades, Mondelēz has faced scrutiny over its cocoa sourcing in West Africa, where child and forced labor are widely documented and an estimated 1.56 million children work on cocoa farms. In 2022, a Channel 4 investigation reported that children as young as ten were using machetes to harvest cocoa pods on a Ghanaian farm allegedly linked to Mondelēz. Mondelēz has emphasized that such practices violate its policies and has pointed to its child labor monitoring system. But that system does not cover all the farms in its supply chain, and the company lacks full traceability for its cocoa — meaning it cannot determine whether child labor is involved in some of the cocoa it uses." Source: https://www.ran.org/the-understory/mondelez-has-built-a-reputation-on-sustainability-we-call-it-deception/

Bus Eireann has confirmed that families will be paying almost twice as much next year for their children to get to school by bus.  This comes at a time when many families are already dealing with the mountingfuel costs and other price hikes driven by the conflict in the Middle East, and now those with school-age children are being asked to pay significantly more for next year's school transport. The price hikes were confirmed last week as transport portal opened for the 2026/27 bus tickes, with many families now facing almost double the cost for the coming academic year. Not only will this put additional financial pressure on parents getting their children to school - but it's also goes against the Government's commitment to ensuring that public transport is an affordable, reliable and attractive option for all, whether in our cities, towns or rural communities.

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St. Patrick's Day is Ireland's most important national and cultural celebration, recognised globally.  Establishing a fixed annual long weekend would: • Enable greater participation in parades, cultural events and community celebrations • Support tourism, hospitality, and local economies across the country • Provide a consistent national holiday structure This change would preserve the cultural, historical and religious significance of the 17th of March while improving how the public holiday is observed for the benefit of society and the economy.

Yesterday the world, and our community, celebrated World Book Day. Our children dressed up as their favourite characters. We celebrated the important role of reading in development, in mental health, and in how we understand the world. Yet in Donabate, a rapidly expanding community, we have recently been severely downgraded in our library services. Our library was in the community centre. The library had something for everyone in the community: lots of colourful books for younger children, spaces for teenagers to study with friends or on their own, and a wide range of books for adults. In January the library was relocated to the old Credit Union building. The building itself is beautiful. But, unfortunately, the new library is 169 square metres — over 200 square metres smaller than the previous space. Now there is a lack of comfortable space for children to relax and read - the toys and art supplies have been removed. Secondary school students have also lost the space they used for studying, and adults of all reading tastes have seen a drastic decrease in selection. There was a general feeling in Donabate, with its rapidly expanding population, that the new library was to be an upgrade. However, there are now serious concerns that the community is losing significant library space in the short term, and it is completely unclear when the library will return to a size comparable to what it originally was — let alone when it will be appropriate for Donabate’s significantly increasing population. We understand that the new building is only Phase One, and that there is a planned Phase Two expansion to enlarge and enhance the library in the future. While we welcome any long‑term investment, planning & construction timelines for Phase Two are unclear.  There is serious concern it will take years to deliver. Our community — especially our children, young and old — needs a functioning, accessible, and appropriately sized library now, not at some distant point in the future. We are calling for Phase Two to be prioritised and accelerated, with interim solutions put in place immediately.

Dublin City Council has announced plans to redevelop Mountjoy Square. https://engage.dublincity.ie/en-IE/projects/re-imagining-mountjoy-square-park-part-8/2 This in and of itself is to be welcomed. No one argues against the park currently being in a squalid state of disrepair. However, the current plans fail, beyond token measures, to provide appropriate play and sports facilities for the youth of the area. We must have sports facilities in Mountjoy Square where we can attract and nurture local young people, offering a pathway to a happy, healthy life in the grey concrete jungle of the North Inner City. Sports and physical activities are not just games; they teach teamwork, discipline, resilience and the value of perseverance.  How can we expect our children to thrive if they have no spaces or where they play, learn and grow are neglected?  No facilities, cracked courts, worn-out fields send a message that their growth and health are not a priority. The redevelopment of Mountjoy Square is a huge chance to show them that the opposite is true. Dublin City Council shouldn't miss the open goal!

For years, our school community has been waiting for progress on an approved new school building. In the meantime, hundreds of children continue to learn in an ageing main building that no longer meets the needs of a modern primary school. Several classes are housed in portacabins due to overcrowding. Recent severe weather has exposed just how serious this situation has become. • One portacabin classroom suffered a floor collapse. • Two additional classrooms and the reception office are dealing with active leaks. While school staff handle these situations with professionalism and calm, the reality is stark: young children are being educated in infrastructure that is visibly failing. This is no longer an inconvenience. It is an urgent issue affecting the safety, wellbeing, and educational experience of hundreds of local children. At the same time, Dunboyne is expanding rapidly. A major housing development is already underway, and an influx of young families is inevitable. It is deeply concerning that while residential construction accelerates, critical educational infrastructure remains stalled. Parents have shown patience and good faith for many years. But children only experience primary school once. They should not spend those formative years in deteriorating facilities while the wider area grows around them. We are calling on our local representatives and the Department of Education to: • Treat the new Dunboyne school building as a priority project • Provide a clear and binding timeline for commencement and completion • Confirm the current stage of the project and the immediate next steps Our children deserve safe, modern learning environments. Our growing community deserves infrastructure that matches its expansion. We are asking for action, clarity, and momentum — not further delay. Dunboyne Junior & Senior Primary Schools - Parent Association

Aughrim Street has high traffic levels during school hours. There are large groups of pupils crossing at the same times. A new bus route now passes along Aughrim Street, increasing traffic volume and making the crossing busier and more dangerous. The School Warden on Oxmantown Road needs their hours extended to cover the 1:30 p.m. collection, as many younger children finish at that time and require safe crossing support.

It is extremely important because children need social media to contact parents friends and family they also need to keep up with some news  This law going through will push us back from a free country 

Why leave and de-platform toxic and lock-in social media (such as X, Instagram, Snapchat, Tiktok) ? Black Box Algorithms: Lock-in platforms aim to show you more content that their owners like Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and their paymasters want you to see, and less content that you want to see….  https://xodus.online/why#algorithms Rise of the far-right: Toxic platforms promote hate, the far-right, and interfere in elections…. https://xodus.online/why#democracy Disinformation: Toxic platforms do not support adequate fact-checking or moderation…. https://xodus.online/why#disinformation Over-consumption: Advertising-profit-platforms promote consumption patterns which are unhealthy for people and planet…. https://xodus.online/why#consumerism