Mduduzi is a founding member of the Melting Pot Luck, which was established in early 2017. He is integral to our group and has been our chairperson since November 2019. The Melting Pot Luck wouldn't be what it is without Mduduzi. Together, we have organised multiple small and large-scale events which have brought the community of Galway and people living in Direct Provision together through food and music. Our group has helped to break down the barriers that separate people, building friendships and promoting intercultural understanding. Mduduzi is from Zimbabwe and has been living in Direct Provision in Galway for the last 3 years. Despite living in those challenging and limiting conditions he has successfully integrated in Galway and has become a key part of the community. Mduduzi embodies the spirit of what makes Galway great, and he works tirelessly to help improve things for people living here. He is an amazingly talented, positive, warm, hard-working and socially conscious individual and he has made a huge effort to integrate and engage with the community in Galway. As well as volunteering with The Melting Pot Luck for the past three years Mduduzi has been involved with numerous volunteer programs with organisations like Galway City Partnership (GCP) and Amnesty International, running educational workshops in schools and training sessions with professionals. He also developed a social enterprise initiative with The Melting Pot Luck, GCP and Tiny Traders market during summer 2019. He is actively involved in the Galway arts scene, DJing regularly with Galway African Diaspora at Áras na Gael. Mduduzi is also on the committee for the University of Sanctuary at NUIG where he studies Science. We are all absolutely shocked and devastated that our friend and chairperson of our group has been told he can’t stay in Ireland. Mduduzi deserves better than the situation he is now faced with. He deserves sanctuary, he deserves welcome, and above all, he deserves to make a home and build a future here in Ireland. This dream, and all the work he has done in the community is at risk of being destroyed if he is deported. TD Charlie Flanagan has the power to grant Mduduzi humanitarian leave to remain in Ireland, and we urge him to do so. We ask you to please sign this petition to support our campaign, and share it widely with your contacts. Thank you.

Students here pay around £4000 per year to attend university. These fees are a barrier to students from working class backgrounds and financial issues are a major cause of student distress and anxiety. The burden of balancing the books of the new NI Assembly should not be placed on our young people. Education is a right and should not be a commodity.

Our schools are facing overwhelming challenges in the provision of education for our children with special needs. The campaign for The Right Inclusion Model for Every Child calls for the State to provide for the rights of every child to an education. To respect the rights of all of our children, sufficient resources must be provided to those who have special educational needs. The Proclamation of our Republic promises to ‘cherish all the children of the nation equally’. Under the current model, inadequate resourcing means that children with additional needs are not guaranteed their right to equal access to education. The goal of our campaign is to achieve cross-party support for The Right Inclusion Model for Every Child ahead of the General Election and to have the principles of this model included on the next Programme for Government. We assert that The Right Inclusion Model for Every Child must include; • SNA allocation to match the needs of the children • Transparency in the Process: There are currently not enough SNAs in the system to match the needs and the appeals process is not fit for purpose. The proposed General Allocation Model cannot match the needs going forward, given that current needs are not being met. Meaningful consultation with schools, parents and children’s advocacy groups is necessary to inform the right inclusion model. • Multi-Disciplinary teams: Immediate removal of waiting lists for Assessment of Need to ensure timely, appropriate access to multi-disciplinary services. This will require considerable increases in staffing and resourcing of the various services. • Options for children and their families: To have options of placements in mainstream schools, special classes within mainstream schools, and special schools according to each child’s needs. We are asking for every General Election Candidate to sign up to our campaign and to pledge to deliver The Right Inclusion Model for Every Child as a matter of priority in the next government.

We need a safe place for our children and adults to cycle on the road for commuting to school and work. This would also provide for recreational cycling and people to enjoy the coast in a safe and peaceful manner. At the moment there is no continuous safe cycling for people in DLR. Most people currently don't cycle due to the dangerous nature of the roads in DLR. This could provide an impetus for cycling with a link all the way from Booterstown to Sandycove. There's been talk of a cycleway along the coast for over 20 years and still no sign of it.

Theophilus Ndlovu, aka 'Touché', came to Ireland seeking asylum in July 2016 and has spent the last 3.5 years living in Direct Provision in Galway. As a talented spoken-word and hip-hop artist, Theo has made enormous contributions to the Irish community, performing at countless cultural and charitable events across the country. He is a founding member of the multicultural music project 'Atmos Collective', and has facilitated numerous music workshops in Galway - teaching, motivating and inspiring hundreds of young people along the way. He is an irreplaceable member of the collective, which was recently granted funding by Galway 2020 as part of their 'Small Towns Big Ideas' scheme, to host community music workshops in the city and county over the next 12 months. Atmos Collective and this incredible project simply could not and will not exist without him! Theo came to Ireland young and alone. He has talent, passion, and is doing his absolute best to give something positive back to Irish society. His ongoing creative output demonstrates that he is dedicated and well-integrated into the creative community. Impressively, it has all been of his own initiative, despite his challenging circumstances. Hardworking and with an infectious energy and positivity, he has been an outstanding role model in the community and an incredible asset to both Galway and Ireland. We cannot afford to lose him! Recently, Theo has wrestled with anxiety and depression, brought on by his time in Direct Provision. We have a humanitarian duty to support and protect those who have had to endure this inhumane and degrading asylum system. Despite all of this, Theo is now facing an imminent deportation order. Only Minister Charles Flanagan has the power to grant 'permission to remain' to Theo and prevent his deportation. PLEASE take the time to sign this petition and to email the Minister and the Taoiseach, at charles.flanagan@oir.ie and leo.varadkar@oir.ie, pledging support to Theo and his future in Ireland – which has become his home. Contact atmosgalway@gmail.com for more details or an email/letter template!

Better productivity. More efficient usage of time Employee satisfaction Lower unemployment rates And most importantly it is better for the environment as we won’t produce as much greenhouse emissions.

If mental health promotion was given a more central and compulsory role in the curriculum the wellbeing of the young people would improve. The communities we work in are some of the most deprived areas in the UK. The suicide rate is around 70% higher in deprived areas than non-deprived areas, and rates of pupils needing tuition due to anxiety and mental health continues to be high. We need schools and the Education Authority to monitor how our schools are addressing mental health.

Because domestic violence is'the great taboo' We men have to speak out loud and clear to say it is wrong. It's always wrong and can never be condoned or justified. It's past time we hear men speaking. Come on men...stand together with our women.

"However small the chance might be of striking lucky, the chance was always there." - Roald Dahl. We have promised to cherish the children of this nation equally. Every child deserves the chance to read and thrive.

With an ever increasing population and heavier traffic on our roads, the current layout around the Monasterevin Schools is unacceptable. Every day, children are crossing roads that have no designated crossing. They are walking on the road because the footpath is unusable or non existent. They are using a junction that is too wide to cross safely with traffic coming from all directions. There are no signs to indicate a school. The current buildup of leaves is leading to ice like conditions on the roads and footpaths. The list of issues goes on and on.. Kildare County Council have refused to provide a traffic warden as recently as November 18th, and with the dark winter already upon us, our childrens lives are quite literally on the line. KCC have quite simply said no money will be spent on our childrens safety. With money widely spent across the county on traffic wardens and infrastructure, Monasterevin appears to once again be forgotten or deemed less important by Kildare County Council. We will NOT accept this. The School Road Safety Action Group, will continue to highlight this issue and will not relent until we are confident that our children can safely walk to school.

The UNCRPD (United Nations Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities), is a human rights instrument with a social development dimension. It reaffirms that all persons with all types of disabilities must enjoy all human rights and fundamental freedoms. You, me and our loved ones are very likely to acquire a disability at some point in our lives. To make decisions for yourself is WHAT IT MEANS TO BE HUMAN. No government or organisation should be able to remove these rights because we have not signed the UNCRPD, but this is occurring in Ireland today. This is hidden and happening each and EVERY DAY that we deny ourselves the rights under the UNCRPD. Please help remove the medieval Ward of Court System in this country now by making the government COMMENCE the long overdue UNCRPD. HELP COMMENCE THE UNCRPD

Shellybanks - Educate together school has 9 pupils arriving in December. We currently fall 4 students short of numbers. It is a brand new building in Sandymount. It represents all religions. As a developing school it is expected to have more pupils - There is currently a directive from the Department of Education requiring developing schools to have a total of 5 additional pupils more than a fully developed school. This makes it harder for the 4%, yes only 4%, of multi denominational schools to get started. Shellybanks are only asking for an extension to December - given the current Brexit climate the term extension should be very clear. Allow our students teachers and school to thrive. Health and safety will not allow the classes be combined - so its not safe for the students! In December there will be the required (additional) number of students in the school. Please support this petition to get change Fast. Thank you +++++++ Additional details: Teacher Allocation There is currently a directive from the Department of Education requiring developing schools to have a total of 5 additional pupils more than a fully developed school. i.e. In our situation, as a developing school, we are required to have 281 students to retain 11 class teaching posts, while a developed school is required to have 276 to retain 11 class teaching posts. As of the deadline mandated by the Dept of Ed, our total enrolment had unexpectedly dropped to 277, which meant we were just 4 students short of retaining 11 class teaching posts. What this now means for Shellybanks is that the Department expects us to divide some of our year groups into multi-grade classes in order to distribute our children across 10 classrooms. While this is far from ideal, in normal circumstances it could be accommodated. However, in our current premises, our fire certificate does not allow us to accommodate these mandated class sizes from the Dept. In other words, we find ourselves in an impossible position, because the Dept. says the rules are we need 281 students, but the fire cert means we can’t combine classes. We have known and prepared for the loss of a teacher in 1st class since August and have been communicating this situation to those families and staff affected. We are now challenging the decision made to lose the second post. So the Dept. is asking us to obey one rule, while they choose to ignore another, namely Health & Safety. We simply refuse to put our students and staff at risk in this way! The Appeal Our Board of Management appealed to the department based on these health and safety concerns. In past appeals, we have been successful in retaining our teaching posts. However, in this instance, the Dept. is simply taking the post from the school, with no recognition of the Health and Safety, and, critically, with zero direction as to how we can safely accommodate teaching and learning. We have also informed the Dept.that we expect an additional 9 pupils to enrol before Dec 2019 and have requested an extension based on this information, but to no avail. At this stage we have exhausted all avenues & resources over an extended period to try to overturn this decision, but the Department will not grant an extension, nor accept our appeal until the numbers are met. See below for additional timeline of events This is incredibly frustrating and disappointing, and we want to assure you that the safety of the children as well as minimising disruption in teaching and learning are our number one priorities. What We Ask Of You We need you, our community and parent body, to support us by reaching out to our TDs and local representatives to explain the situation, so they can raise this through the relevant government channels. Please feel free to show them this communication from the Board of Mgmt.