We are failing the women and children in the community. Currently we have a population of 218,018 and no domestic violence refuge. The shortage of emergency accommodation for people affected by domestic violence is an issue that is getting progressively worse. Domestic violence spikes significantly during the festive season which is exacerbated by the pressures brought about by Covid-19 and the housing crisis. The provision for domestic violence in our area is comprehensively under developed. There are 144 refuge spaces available nationwide yet Dublin alone needs 143 refuge spaces, and Ireland needs almost 500. There are only 31 spaces, in 4 refuges, to service the entire Dublin area. 68% of the calls Women's Aid made to refuges are being turned away due to there being no room left. The nearest refuge for Rathdown is in Bray, this means that many people may have to travel for over an hour on public transport to be turned away. This huge lack of essential support services results in: • Unmet requests for refuge everyday; • Accommodation problems and homelessness; • People trapped in abusive relationships; • Increasing likelihood of people returning to violent and abusive homes; • Fear of reporting the abuse due to the lack of emergency accommodation available; The government is failing women and children. The most vulnerable people in our society are being failed on every level and government inaction continues to silence them. This is a national issue - there are currently 9 counties without a refuge. Please sign this petition, and please support the work of Carlow Women's Refuge Campaign too: https://my.uplift.ie/petitions/carlow-needs-a-women-s-refuge

The more young people who sign in support, the more we can pressure our decision makers to implement these demands.

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.

Children deserve both parents to be with them when they are at their most vulnerable. Parents have an important role in the recovery of a sick child in hospital. It's an exhausting role with monitoring and comforting the child 24/7. It's extremely difficult to do single handedly. Simple tasks like a parent needing to go to the bathroom or find food aren't possible when only one parent can be with the child at any one time. A sick child is scared and doesnt want a parent to leave for a second or may only sleep on the parent. Parents are filling a role as carers in the hospital and they deserve and are entitled to support of their partners/childs other parent to help in this extremely distressing time. Hospital experiences even when surgical outcome is a success are extremely traumatic on both parents and the child. I can't even imagine how parents are dealing with bad news while on their own. On October 22nd Ireland is basically reopening. You can go clubbing again but 2 vaccinated parents of a sick child can't be with the child together. Please can you help us raise this issue for the sake of all those sick children and parents of sick children. If you have any experiences you would like to share to help others understand, please do.

This TV show was one of the few reasons we had to laugh during the toughest of lockdowns and dark depressing Sunday evenings which I think would be beneficial to keep up during the coming winter where no one knows that lies ahead.

No Irish child should leave school without being able to cook for themselves. Otherwise, we are undeniably, failing in our duty of care to our young people. When you teach someone how to cook, you give them a gift that will forever enhance their lives. Our food choices affect our energy, vitality, ability to concentrate. Food affects our mental and physical health and is at the heart of the fight to tackle the climate crisis.

This is so important as the words "Child porn" in no way describe what is actually being done against children

We had a child run out the gate of the green after their dog straight into an oncoming car - luckily this time the driver was driving slowly within the 30km limit and was able to stop safely.

Apart from the stress that the system is putting on young adults, it's also a system that is not rewarding them justly or preparing them adequately for life after school

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.