The proposed amalgamation of St Vincent's Secondary School with two other local secondary schools will turn SVSS into a co-educational school. Co-educational settings are not for everyone, education is not a one size fits all. The right for parents to choose a single sex educational setting must be protected. The Lir Hub ASD center within SVSS provides vital support for 24 ASD female students, who's educational reports state they must be in a single sex, all girls school. We as parents and students of St Vincent's strongly oppose any proposed amalgamation.

1. We understand that Non-EU/EEA PhD students conducting research in Ireland can access the hosting agreement scheme but on condition that they have an employment contract as captured in the first Hosting Agreement FAQ on the Euraxess website here: https://www.euraxess.ie/ireland/fast-track-work-permit-non-eu-rd-hosting-agreement-scheme/i-wish-research-university it states: 'Can I have a Hosting Agreement if I am a PhD student in Ireland? Yes, providing you have an employment contract with your university or research-active organisation in Ireland. Contact the Hosting Agreement office of EURAXESS Ireland by emailing ***@iua.ie for more information.' 2. It is typical that many Non-EU/EEA PhD students are supporting Irish research projects without employment contracts because most universities do not employ PhD students but hire them on scholarship contracts which disqualifies them from accessing the hosting agreement. This is an affordable way of hiring early stage researchers to conduct research while not considering the impact it has on their immigration status in Ireland and to their dependants. (Only those who get employment contracts qualify to apply for the hosting agreement) 3. Denying access to Non-EU/EEA PhD students on research scholarship contracts while giving those on employment contracts brings about inequality among Non-EU/EEA Early Stage Researchers in Ireland. 4. Lack of access to the hosting agreement to most Non-EU/EEA PhD students means that their time in Ireland is not reckonable & creates potential red tapes to access employment in the future. Those on hosting agreement can apply for stamp 4 VISA after 21 months and their time is reckonable while those who do not have are on stamp 2 VISA status throughout their PhD program. 5. The lack of access for many PhD students to the hosting agreement means that their spouses have no direct access to employment in Ireland despite their qualifications and experience. On the other hand those on hosting agreements have their partners access employment with no restrictions. This makes the families of PhD students without hosting agreements to be vulnerable and therefore it means more stress to the researcher. Treating these researchers differently brings about inequality among them. 6. It is only fair that the contributions of all Non-EU/EEA PhD students to research in Ireland is equally recognized, valued, and given credit without looking at their contractual terms. Those PhD Students on hosting agreement and those not on hosting agreement are equally qualified and hold same responsibilities in Research and Development in Ireland. Treating these two groups differently based on the terms of their contracts creates inequality and is unfair. 7. The eligibility criteria for accessing the hosting agreement should be reviewed not to rely on types of contracts researchers are hired on but their contribution to Research and Development in Ireland. References http://www.inis.gov.ie/en/inis/pages/registration-stamps https://www.euraxess.ie/ireland/fast-track-work-permit-non-eu-rd-hosting-agreement-scheme/i-wish-research-university#:~:text=Can%20I%20have%20a%20Hosting,iua.ie%20for%20more%20information. http://www.inis.gov.ie/en/inis/pages/researchers https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/employment/migrant_workers/employment_permits/spousal_work_permit_scheme.html

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.

Postgraduate work at Irish Universities is systematically precarious and low paid, despite substantial financial barriers to accessing courses and degrees. These conditions allow Universities to generate large profits at the expense of those carrying out work and research in the sector. While rent and college fees have continued to increase, stipends and the conditions of postgraduates have remained mostly static, despite a pressing need for change. We are calling for an end to unethical treatment of postgraduates across institutions, and demanding reform for better working and research conditions. We ask for your support in achieving these reforms through signing this petition. If you want to keep up to date with our campaign, be sure to follow us on Twitter (https://mobile.twitter.com/pgwa_ie) and/or Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/pgwa_ie), or drop us an email at pgwaireland@gmail.com. This charter was signed on behalf of the Postgraduate Workers Alliances of TCD, NUIG, and UCD.

Children sharing the same campus and buildings will have different meals. Junior school children will have a cold lunch while children in the adjoining senior school, along with all other children in the parish, will have a hot lunch. Killinarden is a area of social and economic deprivation. A hot school meal is essential for the development of the child and their full engagement in education.

A community centre is vital to support delivery of services for the community especially older and younger members of the community. Most importantly it will provide a hub for community activity and connection!

The government plans to continue with direct provision in existence until the end of 2024. The government has not committed to ending the delays in the international protection process, that greatly exacerbate the impacts of the direct provision system. This failure has severe impacts on people's mental health and ability to integrate in the community. In order to address this ongoing harm, the government must identify suitable alternative modes of accommodation immediately and introduce new modes of accommodation in 2021. Further priorities that government needs to act on right now are identified in the Catherine Day Report (page 83). These actions can and should be done immediately. 1. Carry out vulnerability assessments for all people in the international protection process to identify and accommodate their special reception needs. A pilot program has commenced, but this will need to be heavily resourced to ensure that all people can be assessed, as Ireland has been obliged to do since 2018. 2. The allowances currently paid to people in direct provision should be increased from January 2021 and regularly reviewed in line with the cost of living. (4.12) – This has not been done. 3. The right to work should be made available after 3 months. (5.1) – This has been reduced to 6 months, not 3 months. It should be reduced to 3 months or 0 months without delay. 4. Applicants should be entitled to apply for driving tests and licenses as soon as they have made an application for protection. (5.2) - This has not been done yet. Government has committed to implementing this by summer 2021 in the White Paper. 5. Applicants should have the right to access higher education on the same basis and at the same fees as Irish people, once they meet the qualifying criteria (5.5). Access to education has been expanded but not to this extent; education is a human right, delay is not acceptable. 6. To clear the backlog of current cases a one-off case-processing approach should be introduced for all applications which have been more than two years in the system (6.7). This has not been done and there has been no commitment by the Department of Justice to do so. This priority – the case processing system – is a crucial action that needs immediate implementation by the Department of Justice. The delays in the international protection process have worsened due to the impact of Covid-19, because international protection interviews and Tribunals were paused for many months. People have been left waiting sometimes for over one year for a decision even after their interview. This has a negative effect on people's mental health, ability to integrate in the community and delays the possibility of their family members joining them. As well as the once-off case processing approach for all applications which have been more than two years in the system, the government must act to ensure that interviews take place and decisions issue within specific lengths of time. The Minister for Justice must ensure that the International Protection Office has the resources, staff IT equipment to deliver this even in challenging situations such as Covid-19. Minister Roderic O’ Gorman has called the timeline of the end of 2024 ambitious. Calling this ambitious is a disgrace. We know that our government can act quickly in the common interest when it has needed to since the start of COVID-19. We’ve had 21 years of people in Ireland living in direct provision and the harm that this does to people and to our communities. The government must act now identify suitable alternative modes of accommodation immediately, while also taking immediate actions to fully implement the priorities identified in the Catherine Day Report, and introduce new modes of accommodation in 2021.

Tá an Ghaeilge taréis a bheith an-feiceálach ar RTÉ le linn Seachtain na Gaeilge. Bheadh sé iontach dá gcloisfeadh agus dá bhfeicfeadh muintir na hÉireann an Ghaeilge go laethúil mar chuid lárnach de chláracha de gach saghas ar stáisiúin raidio agus teilifíse RTÉ. The Irish language has been freely used by presenters on our main national broadcaster during Seachtain na Gaeilge. It would be uplifting and in-keeping with our rights as citizens if our national radio and TV channels featured our national language used freely and naturally to indicate a truly bilingual broadcasting environment.

Violence is happening everywhere and all women are at risk. It's happening on the street, in homes, in workplaces, in entertainment, and in intimate relationships.

This campaign is being orchestrated by the the 1916 Societies, who are an Irish separatist movement who believe the people of Ireland have the right to determine their own future. For more information on our campaign visit our website: 1916Societies.ie

We are school children. We want our schools opened now for ALL Children! Paint rocks as symbol of light and rainbow of hope. Leave as many trails as you can, at schools and everywhere! Let us speak up! We miss our friends. We miss our daily lives, our world. We are stuck ...at home. We are waiting…..in our bedrooms, in our kitchens, waiting….stuck. You locked us out of our lives. Don’t leave some of us behind, when our siblings return to their lives, when our parents carry on in their lives, when the whole world carries on but without us…fix a solution for us too! For ALL kids. Give us back our lives! Some of us are smaller, more alone. Sometimes we are sad. Covid Home-schooling is not realistic for lots of us. Education is not reaching us. Our parents are busy, not school teachers. Open our schools now, and safely! Chinese proverb: “Learning is like rowing upstream: not to advance is to drop backwards” Malcom X: “ Education is the passport to the future” Allan Bloom: “Education is the movement from darkness to light” Article 42 of the Constitution states that “ the State shall provide for free primary education …..and, when the public good requires it, provide other educational facilities or institutions! yay!

SNAs are a vital part of every classroom around the country. We want this course accredited to ensure professional development for SNAs around the country.