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 [email protected] and [email protected], pledging support to Theo and his future in Ireland – which has become his home. Contact [email protected] 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.

The failures of mothers and babies in the past in being excused on the grounds of ignorance. Future generations will never forgive this generation for a failure to hold TUSLA to account for it's incompetence to parents and children. TUSLA'S remit is very far reaching covering areas beyond child protection and welfare including domestic sexual and gender based violence services, retention of adoption records, early years services and education welfare. TUSLA is responsible for the most venerable members of our society, OUR CHILDREN,PAST AND PRESENT. Their failures will have lasting effects for many decades into the future. While there have been inquiries into some aspects of how TUSLA operates, there has never been a public inquiry into TUSLA as an overall body.

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.

Every day we talk to women who have been struggling to get the right advice and support for their menopause symptoms. There are over 400,000 women in Ireland in the natural menopause age range of 45-55 – this does not included women who experience early menopause so the actual figure will be higher – this accounts for 12% of the population and this figure is most definitely higher for women who are in actual perimenopause. This is a sizable % of our population that need guidance, help and knowledge. Catherine started Wellness Warrior as a result of the lack of information and support she found as she experienced Perimenopause. Catherine has been joined by Mary Lynn in her goal to extend knowledge to as many women as possible. Over the years we have become increasingly aware of just how many women are not receiving the right support and advice at menopause, from their doctors, their employers and sometimes even their own families and friends. This is all due to a chronic lack of menopause education and awareness. We do not want the women of Ireland to struggle anymore and we want to pave the way for the next generation. Did you know in the last 20 years our lifespan in Ireland has risen by 27.7% - menopause is happening at the middle stage of our lives not towards the end as was more common in the last century. Catherine met Diane Danzebrink in 2019 and their shared passion to get the word of menopause out to everyone has led to us joining forces with Diane to extend her campaign outside of the UK. This is a marathon not a sprint - so to that effect our first set of goals as follows: Menopause in Irish Health Care : Mandatory Menopause Education for all GP’s and healthcare workers. Far too many women are suffering as GP’s receive very little, if any, menopause education during their training leaving them ill equipped to recognise and manage a phase of life that will directly affect at least 50% of the population. The UK published the most recent suicide figures and the age group for women with the highest suicide rate in the U.K is 50-54 - The average age of menopause is 51. (As we have no official menopause stats in Ireland we must defer to UK statistics). Help is urgently needed not just for the physical aspects of menopause but also the mental aspects. A national campaign to educate Irish Society in relation to menopause. Menopause in the Workplace: Raise awareness within the workplace and for all employers to have menopause guidelines in place to be able to support women experiencing symptoms. Too many women feel unsupported at work and currently 1 in 10 leave the workplace due to menopause symptoms. Supporting women to remain at work by implementing a few simple adjustments is common sense. Government and business need to recognize that menopause guidance in every workplace is a win win situation. Secondary School Education: Introduce menopause education in to the SPHE curriculum for all teenage boys and girls. Every woman and man deserves to understand this phase of life. Far too many individuals and relationships suffer as a result of a lack of understanding of menopause. The UK achieved this in July 2019, Ireland should follow suit. Please join us in calling on the Minister for Health (Stephen Donnelly), the Minister for Education (Norma Foley), Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection (Heather Humphreys) and Ministers responsible for health, work and education to #MakeMenopauseMatterIreland

As part of our Irish culture and identity, as part of our community, to enhance our local economy this college needs to be reopened.

In Ireland up to 1,000 children a year are being forced to stay at home because they cannot get a school place. Overwhelmingly, it is children with special educational needs (SEN) - often those with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) - who are worst hit. Every child and young person with special educational, health and care needs to have the extra support and interventions which will help the child or young person to achieve what they want to in their life. We propose a viable solution for this, an Education, Health & Care (EHC) plan to be the legal and statutory right for every child or young person in Ireland, whose special educational needs require more help than would normally be provided in a mainstream education setting (a college, school, nursery). Annual review of the plan The plan will be reviewed at least once a year. At the end of the review the local authority may make changes to the plan, end it or leave it unchanged. How long will the plan last? The plan will remain in place until your child leaves education or the local council decides that your child no longer needs the plan to help them in their education. If you move to another local council the plan will be transferred. How will the benefits of the EHCp be reinforced? A specialist Tribunal will be in place (which is essentially a no costs jurisdiction) where parents and young persons can challenge the contents of a plan If provision in a plan is not provided, the Local Council (who maintain all such documents) can be challenged by way of Judicial Review or a referral to the Local Government Ombudsman. Once a petition has been published, it will be open to signatures for six months. * At 10,000 signatures, the government will formally respond. * At 100,000 signatures, the request will be considered by the Petitions Committee for debate in Dail. PLEASE SIGN THIS PETITION AND SUPPORT EVERY CHILD AND YOUNG PERSON IN IRELAND TO HAVE THE LEGAL AND STATUTORY RIGHT TO AN EDUCATIONAL, HEALTH AND CARE PLAN.