Several Children and parents were let down yesterday when they received their letters from the local Secondary School, over hundred on the waiting list. The situation already looks grim for over hundred families and since Rush and Lusk have been dynamically expanding fears arose that the situation can only get worse in the coming years. Commuting is not a solution. Rush needs more Secondary School places.

In our work in Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, we see the often life-long consequences of the trauma and harm caused by sexual violence of all kinds. We also know from our experience that some of this harm results from a lack of knowledge around how to engage in healthy intimate relationships. A 2018 survey conducted by the Irish Second Level Student Union revealed over 87.5% of students did not have regular Relationship or Sexuality Education. This means the majority of Irish students are not learning about sexual consent, gender diversity, sexual orientation, contraception, or sexual health. We believe our education system can do better, and that the Government has a responsibility to look after the social, emotional and sexual development of young people.

Cork City Council will soon call for public submissions for a name for the new footbridge connecting MacCurtain street to the city centre, which is scheduled for completion in April 2019. Rory Gallagher grew up in Cork City and he bought his first electric guitar from the iconic Crowley's music shop on MacCurtain street. HIs legion of fans is growing even to this day as his music is timeless and spans across the generations, inspiring young guitarists to play. Cork is a vibrant city renowned for its music and due to the significance of MacCurtain street in Rory's life and musical career, it would be very approprate to name the new bridge after Rory.

Drug Policy, and the war on drugs has had children, parents, politicians and stranger murdered in broad daylight. Thanks to gang activity, I myself shake and fear at the noise of bangers going off. The entire country lives in fear of gangs, gangs fed through drug money, drug money coming from the "black market". Little do they realise that the failing drug policy, the politicians and their lobbyists are directly financing this through their stern, "moral" views on dirty drugs. It is absolutely unacceptable. I am sick & tired of burying my friends and lending their brokenhearted families a soaking shoulder to cry on because the government failed them. The governmental position on drugs, the policy set in place in the early 1970's, has absolutely failed them. Where were you when they found their bodies, that nobody heard of because the news would rather report the stash of Class A narcotics they found in a shed, behind a burnt out house and a car filled with hand guns and machetes. Where were you and where are you now? What are you going to do to change this? My name is Sandy Brun, I am a qualified Toxicologist and I hope to graduate with a Master's degree in Neuroscience & Pharmacology. You can find me on LinkedIn. I am sick and tired of burying my friends with dirty drugs in their veins, up their noses and everywhere else. I am sick and tired of being let down by this never ending agonizing political situation that is murdering my friends and breaking the hearts of their families. I've lived in Ireland since I was 10 years old, and I've buried a friend every year since I was 13. You're so proud of the 100th 1916 Easter Rising anniversary that the country celebrated 2 years ago. You're so damn proud to be Irish. You're so damn prejudicial and soft. Stand and fight. For our sons and daughters.

I think that if you can learn Russian, Ancient Greek and Latin for your Leaving Cert then you should be able to learn a language that people born here speak as their first language. I also think that it would encourage students to learn Sign Language, even if it is just a non-curricular language that has to be studied outside of school. If more hearing people could speak sign language, the deaf community wouldn't be so isolated in society.

The Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland (PSI) Council approved rules that will mean that 248 women- in their late 50's, with an average 35 years of experience working as qualified professionals, will lose their livelihoods. The new rules would restrict a qualified Pharmaceutical Assistant (PA) to working ONE HOUR PER DAY in the absence of a pharmacist, rendering the qualification worthless and the job position economically unsustainable. If the new rules are signed into law by the Minister for Health, PA's will no longer be able to provide professional cover for pharmacists’ day off. “It is not possible to get locum cover so if the PA can’t cover I may have to remain closed some Saturdays…It’s fairly disastrous for pharmacy in Ireland”, a pharmacist explains in research carried out to assess the impact of the rules on pharmacy services. PA's have worked on average 18 years in their present pharmacies and know their customers very well. Continuity of care is paramount to patients' health and safety. This is something that PA's offer but the PSI have totally disregarded and ignored this crucial cornerstone. PA's like Sarah explain how “I will be out of a job. I am only 60 and state pension only available at 67…I have two children in college…it will be a financial disaster…I need my work and my money “, Marie spoke of how “I still have a mortgage so am worried about keeping my family home as I am a widow with a disabled adult living with me” NO consideration or provision for compensation has been made by the PSI, in drafting these rules.

Incineration is TOXIC. Do not believe the authorities and Politicians.

As it stands, many people over the age of 23 who qualify as mature students are being assessed as dependent students when applying for a grant to attend third level education. However when three incomes are being included in the application than it is likely to drive the figure well above the threshold meaning that the student no longer qualifies. We believe that this parental responsibility should be abolished for mature students as it does not accurately reflect the reality for many people over the age of 23. We believe that people over the age of 23 are entitled to the dignity of being treated like an adult and assessed on their own income alone when making an application. We believe that all people over the age of 23 should be encouraged and supported as much possible to achieve their full potential and not be prevented from attending third level education on the basis of their parents/guardians income.

I would like to encourage people to start thinking about planting NATIVE species in their gardens, instead of foreign exotics, which are mostly force-grown by garden centres and are of very little value to our native wildlife!! Good examples of native species are: hawthorn (crataegus monogyna) which makes a wonderful thorny hedge. Also great is holly (ilex aquifolium) a red-listed evergreen with beautiful shiny dark-green leaves and red berries, much loved by birds. Another excellent choice is our native black elder (Sambucus Nigra) and our native Rowan tree (Sorbus Aucuparia). You could also plant silver birch (Betula Pendula) in a slightly larger garden. There are many more species to choose from, but those are some of the best!! I'm in the process of creating my own little piece of heaven in my backgarden: most of what I've planted is native to Ireland (and central Europe) as you can see in my campaign photograph. My garden is still very young and mightn't look like much, so don't be put off by what it looks like right now!! There's a specialist mail-order nursery in the west of Ireland, which supplies all of the above (and more). I'm probably not allowed to mention any names here, but you could always find out on the internet. We could turn the whole of the greater Dublin area - and other towns and cities - into a WILDLIFE HAVEN for everyone to enjoy!! We wouldn't even have to get into our car - we could seriously create our very own wildlife paradise on our OWN doorstep!! Also, we need to start putting down less concrete and gravel in our gardens: we are at risk of turning our beautiful neighbourhoods into an urban wasteland!! As most of us already know, many of our native wildlife species are in serious decline, due to modern intensive farming practices in the countryside and also for other reasons. Many of our songbirds, for example, have found refuge in our towns and cities, where they have been able to find hedges to nest in and have been able to take advantage of various food sources no longer available in their previous native habitats. I am increasingly seeing a trend, where people are 'tidying up' their gardens, by putting down concrete or gravel and by taking out trees, hedges or shrubs, crowding out our urban wildlife in the process!! This is happening EVERYWHERE, not just in my local area!! I think this is tragic and will do very little for our own wellbeing in the long run. We could create an urban paradise, abundant with wildlife, simply by planting NATIVE trees, shrubs, hedges and wildflowers in our own gardens!! This would also help tackle climate change. This is an appeal, not to politicians or other officials, but to my fellow citizens, who - I'm sure - don't want to end up living in a concrete jungle, either!! PLEASE SIGN MY PETITION, SO I KNOW, PEOPLE CARE ABOUT THIS ISSUE!! Maybe you could pledge to plant even ONE native shrub, tree or wildflower bed in your own garden!! We need to act NOW - together!!

Oher mass stranding events of beaked whales around the world indicate beaked whales are susceptible to death or injury directly (temporary/permanent hearing damage) or indirectly (gas embolism, ( also known as the 'bends' ) due to extremely loud man-made oceanographic noise such as that produced by low and mid frequency naval sonar and certain types of acoustic survey used to examine the sea floor and below. Mass strandings of beaked whales associated with naval exercises have been recorded in Greece, the Canaries and the Bahamas. With no certain cause of these beaked whale mortalities on Irish shores having yet been established, this needs to be recognised as an unusual mass stranding event (UME) in an effort to identify the potential cause(s) and perhaps prevent future stranding events. Beaked whales are among the most diverse yet least understood groups of marine mammals.owing to their deep-water oceanic existence and typically inconspicuous surface behavior. Feeding in depths often exceeding 1000 m, most species are rarely seen; some have never been identified alive at sea and are known only from beach-stranded carcasses. According to the IUCN Red List, approximately 40% of marine mammal species are considered Data Deficient, whereas for the Ziphiidae, 90% are Data Deficient. Population trends for all beaked whale species are listed as unknown on the IUCN Red List. Ziphius and Mesoplodon are the two beaked whale genera known to suffer impacts from naval sonar activities. They exhibit strong behavioral responses to certain types of active sonar, resulting in altered movements and space use for prolonged periods after exposure (e.g., several days). In more extreme cases there can be physiological consequences leading to death or stranding. Mass strandings of beaked whales throughout the Northern Hemisphere have been associated with offshore military activity (Moore & Barlow, 2013). It is important that we aim to mitigate these stranding events and reduce human impacts on beaked whales in Irish waters.

Blessington and the surrounding areas have a growing young population. Presently the residents must travel outside of our community to Naas or Tallaght to access swimming facilities. The nearest community swimming pool to West Wicklow, provided by Wicklow County Council, is in Bray, an hour drive away from Blessington by car. According to the 2016 Census the municipal district population of West Wicklow is over 26,000 people. A community swimming pool would be of great benefit to the local communities and would help promote physical exercise, water safety and provide local employment. We believe that a community swimming pool needs to be provided for the growing population of West Wicklow.

Both Gemma O'Doherty (award winning journalist) https://gemmaodoherty.com/ and respected financial whistleblower Johnathon Sugarman http://whistleblowerirl.blogspot.com/ have un blemished track records in uncovering political and financial corruption for the public good in Ireland. Notably issues that are totally relevent, newsworthy, affect peoples lives and need to be known by the Irish public. For instance Gemma O'Doherty was the first to uncover the penalty points scandal and has yet to be interviewed or allowed to comment on this issue! Johnathon Sugarman who is a financial whistleblower with indepth knowledge about the financial and banking corruption that is rife including the recent Drumm judgement. Why have they not been asked to comment? Is this a form of media censorship? Many People believe that for any other reason than balance alone they should be given a voice on mainstream media otherwise this is a form of Censorship in Ireland.