To ensure the future of the planet and allow us to sustain

The latest UN commissioned report on climate change has issued a code red for humanity. Our window for acting is rapidly closing. Please include your IMC registration number.

Keep Ireland LNG Free Petition Renewable energy is the future and Ireland has taken major steps towards a cleaner, greener future by banning fracking and new offshore drilling licences for fossil fuels. As thousands of communities around the world, scientists and our own government agree, it doesn’t make sense to support major new oil and gas infrastructure which could lock us into fossil energy for 30 - 40 years and damage our ability to fulfil our climate action commitments. But right now, ignoring public sentiment and government resolve [1], fossil fuel companies are planning to build multiple Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminals, a particularly climate-damaging fossil fuel, on the Irish coast, including in Kerry [2], Cork, Mayo and Louth [3].  https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=11LDz8VwM-XVKenh_1CGNZJahCrZPtfc&usp=sharing?showEmbed=true These companies will continue to seek ways to side step and undermine our national efforts for a fossil free future [4]. We need to stop them once and for all by passing legislation against LNG infrastructure, the new LNG Free Bill.  When we take action together, we take leaps towards a healthy planet. Working in solidarity achieved a nationwide ban on offshore drilling - let's do it again and Keep Ireland LNG free! What is LNG and why is it so dangerous? Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is fossil gas which has been turned into a liquid to be transported around the world on tankers. At every stage of its production it leaks methane, making it hugely climate-damaging [5]. On a full life-cycle basis, it is as devastating for the climate as coal or oil [6]. LNG is often obtained by fracking, which we banned in Ireland because of its appalling environmental and health impacts - including birth defects, respiratory disease and increased cancer rates in local communities [7]. However, if LNG infrastructure was developed in Ireland, we would be unable to control whether gas arriving in Ireland is fracked or not. LNG terminals could also cause significant health impacts and even risk to life for Irish communities due to air pollution and potential gas leaks and explosions [8]. Increasing our nation’s reliance on LNG fossil fuel energy will further expose us to energy insecurity and price rises, deepening the cost of living crisis. The most secure source of energy for the future is indigenous renewables supported by storage [9]. Renewables are already cheaper than fossil fuels [10] and LNG would threaten investment in renewables by flooding the market with dirty energy [11]. Take action - Keep Ireland LNG Free! Sign the petition to Taoiseach Simon Harris asking him to pass the LNG Free Bill. Head to www.lngfree.ie for more information and actions! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1] https://www.gov.ie/en/press-release/dbe48-policy-statement-on-the-importation-of-fracked-gas-published/ [2] https://secureservercdn.net/166.62.108.229/ejr.4eb.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/CHPNY-PSR-Fracking-Science-Compendium-7_20210219.pdf [3] https://www.businesspost.ie/energy/new-firms-lng-plans-would-make-ireland-major-exporter-of-gas-95728294 [4] https://www.businesspost.ie/energy/shannon-lng-terminal-can-go-ahead-if-planning-is-granted-varadkar-says-503e39b8 [5] https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/files/60994617/Natural_Gas_and_Climate_Change_Anderson_Broderick_FOR_DISTRIBUTION.pdf [6] http://www.eeb.cornell.edu/howarth/publications/f_EECT-61539-perspectives-on-air-emissions-of-methane-and-climatic-warmin_100815_27470.pdf [7] https://secureservercdn.net/166.62.108.229/ejr.4eb.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/CHPNY-PSR-Fracking-Science-Compendium-7_20210219.pdf [8] https://www.ran.org/wp-content/uploads/rainforestactionnetwork/pages/17026/attachments/original/1478634931/LNG_Report_Updated_11.7.pdf?1478634931 [9] https://www.stopclimatechaos.ie/assets/files/pdf/is_natural_gas_essential_for_irelands_future_energy_security_scc_study_november_2018.pdf [10] https://rmi.org/insight/clean-energy-portfolios-pipelines-and-plants/ [11] https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2014ERL.....9i4008S/abstract

Part of our climate change goals & ambitions.

The Deer Park (Howth Demense) is a place of outstanding wild beauty with historic, cultural and environmental importance that is at risk of being destroyed. If these lands are rezoned for development, the unique characteristic of the Howth/Sutton peninsula will be changed forever. These lands have provided unquantifiable social benefits to locals, Dubliners, people from all over Ireland and international tourists for generations, no more so than during the recent pandemic when it served as a peaceful haven for physical and mental wellness. They are also home to a diverse environment of wildlife, native trees and shrubs which need further protection. Supporters of this cause recognise the need for housing and Fingal has already zoned 40% more land than its target for residential development in the next five years. Land owners must develop land that has already been zoned for this purpose. In addition to this, Fingal's CEO has emphatically said she supports the current High Amenity (HA) zoning of Howth Castle lands and is opposed to the rezoning of these lands. Please show your support to preserve Howth's unique identity and say no to the rezoning of The Deer Park.

The opening of a dog park in this community would give people a place to safely exercise and play with their dogs. It would provide a space to allow dogs off-lead which is essential for dogs to be socialised, safe and learn friendly play. At the moment there is a lack of spaces for dog owners to be able to safely let their dogs run off lead in public parks. Many of us living in the inner city do not have access to large private gardens to give our dogs a run around and we depend on our beautiful parks. However currently letting a dog off the lead in nearly all DCC parks including Fairview Park is a breach of DCC bye-laws, which can even result in a fine or prosecution! Dogs that are well socialised and exercised are healthier, happier, and less aggressive in behaviour. They are less likely to bark or be destructive or aggressive if they are able to expend pent-up energy during regular play or exercise off the lead. Well socialised and stimulated dogs tend to be much better behaved, happier dogs and dog owners, and this would mean much less rehoming of dogs and dogs surrendered to shelters. A dog park in this area similar to that in St. Annes Park is would be a great step in solving this issue and make the park a happier, safer place for everyone! This petition will be sent to Councillors in Dublin City Council to demand they build a dog park to serve the community. Please send the onto everybody you know who might be interested!

Fracking and drilling pollutes our water, and damages our health. It is expected that the petroleum licencing policy that Minister Lyons will propose to the Executive could open the door for the approval of outstanding drilling and fracking applications in Fermanagh, and in the five council areas of Belfast, Antrim and Newtownabbey, Mid Ulster, Armagh City Banbridge and Craigavon, Lisburn and Castlereagh. There is no time for legislation to be passed on fracking and drilling in this Assembly term. It must be stopped at the Executive.

The Limerick Greenway, which opened in July and cost €10M euros, is now the most successful greenway in Ireland with over 250K visitors already. The greenway traverses a green plain under Rooskagh Hill. This region has huge potential for tourism and could create a multiple of the estimated 200 jobs created in Mayo on the back of their fabulous greenway. It is similar in size to Limerick and visitor numbers are comparable. A dual carriageway through the plain and the greenway will stunt any further growth in amenities and jobs. We believe Limerick County Council; Transport Infrastructure Ireland and the Department of Transport have chosen it not because it is the best route to alleviate traffic congestion in and around Newcastle West but purely because they think that it is achievable in the time frame that they must spend the funds promised and also allows them to circumvent future restrictions from the EU in relation to climate control. We want to raise awareness of this flawed decision and try and reverse it before it is too late. The process to date has evolved side by side with the Covid pandemic and the authorities have been able to move swiftly without entertaining any real democratic questioning. Zoom calls with pre-prepared scripts has been the order of the day. The whole planning, implementation and engagement of this process has been rushed and expedited. Most local politicians appear to be repeating the same mantra as the council and there is a clear democratic deficit here. It is left up to ordinary citizens to voice their concern through the media and other channels such as this petition. https://www.facebook.com/protectlimerickgreenway [email protected]

Already quarrying has destroyed 150 meters of the Iron Age linear earthwork known as the Black Pigs Race or Dyke. There is also a prehistoric enclosure and pre-famine potato ridges on the Mountain.

The more young people who sign in support, the more we can pressure our decision makers to implement these demands.

Big business are producing more, not less emissions and are making the climate crisis worse. Government decisions are letting them off the hook and pushing the burden for the climate crisis on to regular people, not the corporations who drive it.

Toilets are an important public amenity which serve our most basic bodily functions. Access to public toilets isn't just a matter of convenience, it's a matter of dignity and social equality. Mayo's beaches are visited and used all year round, by a wide variety of people, engaged in a multitude of activities, and in all types of weather. People do not stop using the beaches during the Winter. In fact, for many people, the quieter Winter months are a more enjoyable time to visit the beach than during the peak Summer period. Why, then, does Mayo County Council deny access to public toilets at our beaches for half the year? In early October the toilets are locked up, the public bins are removed, and beach users are left without these basic facilities until the following April or May. For some people, access to a public toilet is simply about convenience - it's not necessarily a deal-breaker - but for many more people, a public toilet can be a determining factor in whether they visit a public amenity such as a beach. Women, disabled people, older people, people with children, and many others in our society are unfairly impacted by a lack of public toilets. Where these facilities exist, such as at our beaches, they should be accessible all year round. To be frank, the people least affected by the lack of public toilets are non-disabled men, who can pretty much pee wherever they like (and who don't have a menstrual cycle). For everyone else, if there's no public toilet available, there's a calculation to be made: How long can I spend in this place before I'll need to pee? Can I visit at all? Should I risk my dignity, and potentially my personal safety, by squatting somewhere out-of-the-way just to pee? By denying these facilities for half the year, Mayo County Council is effectively closing the beaches to a broad section of our society, and this is not equitable or acceptable. We call on Mayo County Council to immediately reopen the public toilets at all our beaches, and to keep these essential facilities open all year round.