Although Israel has tried to suppress and discredit information leaving Gaza, including by murdering at least 134 journalists, thanks to the courage and determination of those men and women we can see the scale of brutality and destruction being wrought in Gaza through social media. It is the duty of RTÉ as Ireland's national broadcaster to tell the truth about what is happening in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon. By suppressing information, by playing into Israeli narratives and ignoring credible reports of war crimes, RTÉ becomes complicit. The Irish people have a right to know about those crimes, because they are being funded and supported by countries with which we enjoy the closest of cultural and economic relations. Moreover, Israel itself is one of Ireland's largest trading partners (in 2022 alone, Ireland imported goods valued at €5 billion from Israel).

We are teachers; we teach children. We teach them about society and how they will grow up to be full participants in society. We teach them about empathy and solidarity; and we teach them, when they see obvious injustice, that they should act. We are horrified to be witnessing a deliberate, catastrophic humanitarian tragedy being inflicted on Gaza. We say this because we do not believe that the killing of children can be justified as "collateral damage," in the pursuit of a murderous, illusory, self-defeating and futile goal. Nor do we accept assurances that efforts are being made to avoid the deaths of children. Since October the 7th, over 13,000 children have died violently in Gaza; 4551 of them were school students. An additional 8,193 children have suffered injuries. We teach children every day, we know that these are not just numbers. Each of these children is as precious as your own child. These are innocent lives, cut short in the most barbaric manner. To date, 231 of our teaching colleagues in Gaza have been murdered, and 762 injured in brutal attacks by the Israeli army, which has been given billions of dollars by the United States to destroy Gaza. Schools - the bastions of hope and enlightenment - are being mercilessly and illegally targeted. A staggering 281 schools have been bombed or damaged; 83 are severely damaged; one-third are inoperable; and seven are utterly destroyed. To compound this tragedy, 133 schools are now makeshift shelters for displaced civilians, clinging to the vain hope that schools will not be targeted. We cannot turn a blind eye to the unambiguous war crimes that are being committed; to the genocidal assertions made by members of the Israeli cabinet; nor to the on-going ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, to facilitiate colonisation of their land. If you also believe that the mass slaughter of children, the assassination of teachers and the destruction of the educational system of Gaza is unacceptable, then we ask you to join us in saying stop. Just stop. Simply stop. We, the undersigned teachers from every corner of the globe, urgently demand you use your influence and resources to champion an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza and in the West Bank. The time for diplomatic solutions and decisive action is now. We demand an immediate permanent ceasefire and the effective application of international law. Your contribution doesn't mean you are pro one group or against another. Your petition means you are pro humanity

We need your support to ensure a majority of TDs in Dáil Éireann back our motion calling for the Government to: - Intensify its advocacy for an immediate ceasefire and the release of hostages. - Provide strong leadership at EU level to advocate for economic sanctions on Israel, including: - Suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement on the basis of a serious breach of the essential elements human rights clause in that agreement. - Suspension of the EU-Israel Horizon Europe Association Agreement and Israel’s access to the €95 billion Horizon Europe fund for research and innovation. - Make a referral to the International Criminal Court requesting that it investigate whether members of the Israeli government and military have committed war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity in Gaza. - Enact the Control of Economic Activity (Occupied Territories) Bill 2018 and the Illegal Israeli Settlements Divestment Bill 2023 as a matter of urgency. - Withdraw the diplomatic status of the Israeli Ambassador given the failure of the Israeli State to cease the deliberate targeting of civilians, journalists, UN staff and healthcare workers. - Pursue all possible avenues at the EU and the UN to build an international alliance for peace to provide a pathway away from violence and back to the negotiation table.

To stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine

Israel is committing war crimes and genocide against the people of Palestine. Thousands of children are dying before our eyes. Families are being wiped out. Lives are being destroyed. Expelling the Israeli Ambassador would communicate a strong message that we, the people of Ireland, do NOT accept genocide and mass destruction. It would give courage to other nations around the world to stand in solidarity and do the same. It would send the message that - no matter how small the nation, our voices will be heard. We can not afford to be quiet today. We need to raise our voices for those who cannot and take a stand. Sign the petition to Expel the Israeli Ambassador NOW!

If you care about safety and crime in your area, please join us calling for the Minster of Justice to maintain Community Policing in our towns.

We urgently call on the government to increase the number of gardaí in Newbridge up to the national average, which will help to improve community safety. We believe that this increase will require the assignment of a substantial number of new and experienced gardaí to our community.

There is nothing more important to us as a nation than to care for, nurture, protect and preserve the health and well-being of our children and grandchildren. A very close second is the need to protect and preserve our natural environment for those generations that follow us, who will depend upon it. A recent submission to the Citizens Assembly examining Bio-Diversity Loss in Ireland confirmed that our natural freshwaters are being deliberately, unlawfully polluted by 5000 defective (leaking) slurry/effluent storage tanks that were built on NI farms, thousands of which were built in the border counties of Derry, Tyrone, Fermanagh and Armagh. * Updated to: https://citizensassembly.ie/wp-content/uploads/396_Redacted.pdf The toxic contents leaking from those defective tanks pollute/poison local streams rivers and lakes that flow across the 310mile border and pollute/poison the freshwaters in the border counties of Donegal, Leitrim, Cavan, Monaghan, Louth and the counties beyond them, killing the marine life and flora and fauna that exist in those freshwaters and causing/contributing to the pollution recorded by the EPA in their reports. RTE reported the EPA Studies that confirm the levels of pollution in our natural freshwaters. https://www.rte.ie/news/environment/2022/1014/1329164-epa-water-quality/ https://www.rte.ie/news/2022/1020/1330259-epa-sewage-report/ Those streams, rivers and lakes are the source of the water that we all use/drink every day. Think of this when you pour your next cup of tea/coffee or hand your child a glass of tap-water to drink. *Update: On 26-01-23 the European Commission referred Ireland to the European Court over its failures to protect its freshwaters from pollution and maintain acceptable standards of drinking water.* Please sign this petition and forward it to your elected representative and please also share it with your friends and family and ask them to do the same.

To ensure Victims and survivors of sexual trauma are protected during the Court process, also to dispell prevelant rape myths throughout our society that good character means someone is not capable of rape, or that they should be treated with leniency.

This is an animal welfare issue. It is cruel, inhumane&needs to be addressed now.

Unregulated private consultants or 'experts' are routinely used in the Family Law Courts to determine if children should be forced to be 'reconciled' with a parent (usually a father) without any consideration of the children's wishes or reports of evidence of abuse and violence in the home.  Because of the 'in camera' rule there is no exposure of this widespread practice, no data, no oversight or accountability and if women and children speak about what is happening they can be criminalised for breaking the 'in camera' rule.  Very recently a woman's young children were taken without warning from their school in the company of Gardai. They were removed from the care of their mother and the only home they have ever known and forced to live in their father’s house. They are not allowed to see or speak to their mother.  The children have told their teachers, doctor and the social workers what they want and why but the court won’t listen and says they can’t have a voice - on the recommendation of a so called unregulated 'family expert witness'. The 2015 Child and Family Relationship Act says that all children have a right to be heard in matters concerning their lives and should be involved in decisions made about them. The children’s father has continued to exert power and control through post-separation abuse. The greatest way to hurt her is by taking the children away from her, aided by unregulated experts in the family law courts who are silencing victims of domestic violence and their children. We hear from many mothers who are victims of domestic and sexual violence, that in the family courts, when it comes to guardianship, custody and access hearings, domestic abuse survivors are not being heard or prioritised. Many of the reports are very similar to the story outlined above.  The reasons offered for these forced separation/reconciliation decisions by 'family court experts' are unreliable. Their arguments draw on concepts that are unscientific and discredited ie. parental alienation.  To stop this 'in plain sight' abuse of children and women who are survivors of violence - scrutiny of the decisions being made in Family Law Courts is urgently needed. Unregulated experts have to be investigated and their decisions published and reviewed. Mandatory training and education, accreditation and accountability for all professionals is desperately needed for all professionals working in the Family Courts. There must be independent monitoring and oversight.  Children should have the right to live free from fear. Our children should never be subjected to forced removal from their home and family and silenced by so called unregulated 'experts'. Children’s views, voice and wishes, their feelings and human rights should be paramount in all decisions by the court regarding contact arrangements.

Facial Recognition Technology and others forms of biometrics surveillance are needlessly intrusive and invasive. Law enforcement use this technology to track and identify people wherever they go, be it online or in public spaces. It can quieten protest, or be used to harrass and target minority communities. This is an overreach of Garda power, and it's not clear why the Gardaí should require the use of such invasive practices. An Garda Siochána have already shown they cannot be trusted to maintain good data protection standards, why would we trust them with our faces? [1] https://www.iccl.ie/digital-data/garda-use-of-facial-recognition-technology-poses-extreme-risk-to-human-rights/