College access programmes provide a valuable opportunity for students and school leavers from lower socio-economic backgrounds. These students tend to face both financial and complex social barriers in accessing third level education. From my experience in completing the Trinity Access Programme some of the most frustrating barriers can come from the societal attitudes, perceived or otherwise, within the college, which in many cases can have a stigmatising effect. Requiring prospective students for DIT’s access programme to apply for Garda Vetting will in my view have the effect of further stigmatising some of the most disadvantaged students in the College. Bering in mind that the DIT access programme is aimed at those who have experienced socio-economic disadvantage in their past, the idea that they are singled out for Garda Vetting is totally dis-intuitive to that aim. At its core this is an irrational and unreasonable requirement on students applying for the DIT access programme. While some degrees do require Garda Vetting such as Social Work for example, it makes no sense to apply that requirement to students who do not intend to take those degrees. In this sense the lump approach by the access programme has a discriminatory result vis-à-vis non-access traditional students. It will not only have the effect of stigmatizing students coming through the programme, but it is likely to have a wider effect on anyone thinking of going onto further education through the access programme. Having, myself, completed the Trinity Access Programmes and gone on to complete my degree in Law and Political Science at Trinity, I can say that unreasonable requirements, like this Garda Vetting, applied discriminately to those from lower socio-economic backgrounds re-enforces certain stigmas that such student tend to face on a daily bases. Thus, the application of the Garda Vetting requirement proposed by the DIT access programme makes no real sense in its approach, it discriminates and will have a dis-insentivising effect on prospective students seeking a second chance. For these reasons, I urge you to sign this petition to have this decision reconsidered.

These are some of the worst incidents of abuse in the history of the Irish State. Many children died through neglect and ill-health and possibly physical abuse. All suffered. The State at the time knew this was taking place, but rather than shut them down, they paid these organisations to house those they deemed undesirable. Places like Westbank in Greystones were used as an illegal adoption agency and profited very handsomely out of it. Whilst victims of similar Catholic-run organisations have been recognised under the Redress Act 2002, no such move was made for those in Protestants homes, even though Bethany Home falls under every category for redress. Despite meeting members of the Bethany Home Survivors Group, Minister Zappone is still refusing to fast-track redress for these long-suffering people. Not many are left now and time is running out. https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/bethany-home-survivors-disappointed-over-governments-refusal-to-extend-fast-track-redress-scheme-927837.html

Parking, adequate lighting and traffic congestion issues have been a problem on Clash road, Tralee and areas leading of it for many years. Clash road is used by staff and students and provides access to IT Tralee, South Campus, Kerry ETB, Clash industrial estate and other areas on a daily basis. As parking is extremely limited in the Clash area, the KCC's solution since September 16' has been to fine all cars parked illegally rather than tackle the issue of a lack of parking in the area. A workable solution must be found for the students, staff and people who work and use Clash road on a daily basis.

We are not racist, dont let Trump make us look like we are.

We are looking for government funding to keep this vital. immediate counselling and support service. We support children and adults that have lost someone to suicide or those that struggle with mental health issues

Current Garda Vetting Practice is depriving communities all over Ireland of the irreplaceable leadership which can only be delivered by volunteers. It is generally accepted that the well-being of any community can be measured by the number of its volunteers.

The GMIT Mayo campus is one of the foundation stones on which our community is built on. And has been since it first opened its doors in 1994. We must protect this vital resource for all the current students and the thousands of local and visiting students that could pass through its doors in the future.

OUR AIM: To reaffirm the commitment of Dublin City Council to Gaelscoil Cholmcille for the additional land for the provision a two stream permanent school with necessary amenity space. Specifically, we wish support for the following: 1. To confirm the allocation of additional land from Dublin City Council, as originally promised in front of the existing temporary school . Presently 83% of our pupils live within 2 miles of the Gaelscoil, and countless local children are turned away every year due to lack of places. The proposed development of Laurence’s Land could require over 1,000 additional school places in the next 2-5 years 2. To seek formal approval from DCC for a Design Layout Change in the Housing Land Initiative Feasibility Study Dec 2015 3. We wish to seek assurance from DCC that all traffic from the development uses only the entrances further west of the Gaelscoil area, for the security of our children. 4. We wish for our Permanent School Development to run concurrently with the proposed Laurence’s land development. It is imperative that the whole community support our petition.

A decision is imminent on the Bill to insert into the Constitution an amendment which would rule out any future privatisation of water, or water services. Forty TDs have signed the Bill including Independents4Change, Sinn Fein, AAA/PBP and a number of independent TD’s. A number of others including the Green Party, the Labour Party and the Social Democrats have said publicly that they would support a referendum on public ownership of our water, so the Bill has a real chance of passing. However, this Bill will only pass if supported by Fianna Fail. We are calling on all TD's to prove they oppose water privatisation by supporting the Bill. At this very moment in time, any government, including the current one, could legislate to sell off our public water system. Furthermore, even if a government did not want to sell off our water, the EU, IMF or ECB could force the sale in the future – like they did in Greece and Portugal – so we have to protect our vital public water system now! The devastating impacts of water privatization have been felt all around the world. In the UK, one in four people are now experiencing water poverty. In the US, Rome and parts of France, tens of thousands are having their water shut off. We can prevent much of this by putting ownership of our water in the Constitution. More information here: http://tinyurl.com/zqn5gt6

It is important to let's Stop Stormont from Ruining our further & higher education system. And also Free Education, Free From Debt,and also Grants not debt. We need to stand in solidarity and fight back.

We call on the Government to: - immediately commit to a one-point reduction to the staffing schedule of primary schools which controls average class sizes for the coming school year; - publish a roadmap to outline how we can reach an average class size of no more than 20 within the lifetime of this Government; - commit to multi-annual increases to school capitation rates, sufficient to end the practice of requesting voluntary contributions from parents; - provide the full €21m funding required to meet demographic growth in third-level, and to direct additional resources at improving the staff-student ratios in third-level and reducing the student contribution - guarantee the funding required to fully roll out all new apprenticeships which will provide a wider range of opportunities for young people, and in particular young women

#EducationIs a public good. The report outlines three funding options: 1) Funding Option One: A Predominantly State-Funded System. 2) Funding Option Two: Increased State-Funding with Continuing Student Fees. 3) Funding Option Three: Increased State-Funding with Deferred Payment of Fees Through Income Contingent Loans. USI know that Funding Option One is key for Irish students' future. Funding Option One: A predominantly state-funded system advocates that the state would significantly increase its core grant to institutions and the €3,000 undergraduate student contribution would be abolished. Higher education would be free at the point of entry for all first-time EU students and for part-time learners.There is also the possibility of extending free tuition to postgraduate education. Funding Option Three will have a negative effect on the lives of current and future Irish students. USI know that an income-contingent loan scheme is not a viable solution to third-level funding as a burden of €20,000+ debt upon graduation will deter people from applying to college. Financial strain of placing this debt on graduates spans across all communities and groups including parents, children, staff and teachers - not just students. The campaign is supported by members of the Coalition for Publicly Funded Higher Education including SIPTU, IMPACT, TUI, IFUT and the National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI) so far. FACTS ABOUT LOANS America's student loan debt ($1tn+) is greater in value than the combined economies of Ireland, New Zealand, and Australia. In other words, American students owe the combined value of all transactions in those countries in a year. Home-ownership in under-40s in New Zealand has drastically fallen since the introduction of student loans, from 57% to 25%.” Charging no tuition-related fees, Germany has 41 universities that are considered by Times Higher Education to be among the best in the world. In France, where they have registration fees of under €200, there are 27. 70% of the 2015 college graduates in the UK are not expected to ever repay their college loans, according to The Institute of Fiscal Studies.