The model of providing care off site from the maternity hospital exists already in other areas, within the gynaecology department in the main hospital. It is acknowledged how overburdened UHL is, but women's healthcare should not be neglected again. Providing a care pathway for those miscarrying in a site within Ennis and Nenagh for those with a confirmed miscarriage would allow the specific care needed for those patients and alleviate the need to go to UHL.  This would reduce the trauma caused to the woman and partner and allow them to focus on recovery and processing the miscarriage without the extra burden of emotional trauma by mixing miscarriage care and antenatal care.

My name is Neeth Catherine Job, and on October 20th, 2025, my life changed forever.    I was 13 weeks pregnant with twins when I experienced a miscarriage. What many people don’t realise is that miscarriage can involve the full labour process. For me, it lasted almost 24 hours.    I delivered our first baby at around 2 a.m., and our second at around 11 p.m. that night. The physical pain was overwhelming, and due to additional medical complications, my recovery took nearly two weeks. The emotional pain is something I will carry for much longer.    One of the things that carried me through this devastating experience was my faith in God. In the midst of loss and confusion, I trusted that He sustains life, and that trust became my strength when I had none left.    The hospital staff were incredibly supportive, and so were my managers, who told me to take all the time I needed. I was grateful for that compassion, but what shocked me was discovering that Ireland has no statutory miscarriage leave at all.    I am originally from India, where women receive six weeks of paid leave after a miscarriage. Having worked in Ireland for the past years, I assumed similar protections existed. Instead, I had to rely on my sick leave and annual leave, simply because there is no legal entitlement for women who experience pregnancy loss before 23 weeks.    I was lucky to have understanding employers. But many women do not.  Many return to work in pain.  Many return while still bleeding.  Many return while grieving a loss that cannot be expressed in words.  And many have no choice.    Miscarriage is not just a medical event. It is a physical trauma and a profound bereavement. Yet women in Ireland are expected to return to work immediately, often without recovery time, financial security, or emotional support. Miscarriage affects approximately 1 in 4 pregnancies.    Ireland has debated miscarriage-leave laws for years. The 2021 Reproductive Health Related Leave Bill offers meaningful protection, yet it remains stalled. Meanwhile, the 2025 Pregnancy Loss Bill proposes only five days of leave — far from enough. Discussion is not enough. Delays are not enough. Women need legal protection now.   I am calling on the Irish Government to introduce 4 weeks of statutory paid miscarriage leave for pregnancy loss before 23 weeks.    Four weeks is not long enough to heal the grief, but it is the minimum time a woman should have to recover physically, emotionally, and with dignity, without fear of losing income or job security.    No woman should have to fight for time off after losing her baby.  No woman should have to use annual, sick, or unpaid leave to recover.  No woman should be left alone in this.    By signing this petition, you are supporting thousands of women every year who experience pregnancy loss, and you are helping build a more compassionate Ireland.    Please sign and share. Let’s make miscarriage leave a legal right.     

Since October 2023, Gaza has faced one of the deadliest assaults in modern history. Over 300,000 Palestinians have been killed, the majority of them women and children. Entire communities have been erased, and the genocide continues daily. Coca-Cola is not a neutral brand in this context. The company: Operates in illegal Israeli settlements built on stolen Palestinian land. Has supply chains and business practices that profit from occupation and apartheid. Uses global events and sponsorships to whitewash its image while remaining complicit in human rights abuses. Electric Picnic is more than just a festival it is a cultural institution in Ireland, a space where values of creativity, freedom, and solidarity are celebrated. Allowing Coca-Cola to sponsor the festival undermines these very values and makes Electric Picnic complicit in whitewashing genocide. By dropping Coca-Cola, Electric Picnic can send a powerful message: our culture will not be used to cover up crimes against humanity. This would not only honor the hundreds of thousands of lives lost in Gaza but also set a precedent for ethical sponsorship in the music and arts world. Standing against genocide is not political but is a matter of basic human rights and human dignity.

It is not acceptable that camogie players are banned from wearing shorts. All we are looking for is choice. 

  Domestic abuse cuts across all genders, yet male victims face unique stigmas that hinder them in getting help. Men's Aid provides an invaluable service to these victims with its anonymous helpline but more resources are needed to expand their domestic violence helpline to a 24/7 service. At the moment Men's Aid only has it's hotline open Monday through Friday, 9 to 5, that leaves 128 hours where the service isn't available every week, where calls are missed and victims don't get help.  1,310 calls to Men's Aid were missed in 2023, largely due to the helpline's closing times. A study by the mankind initiative revealed that 64% of male victims would not have sought help from their helpline, if the helpline was not anonymous. This demonstrates why anonymous helplines like that of Men's Aid can be even more vital in providing help and a safe spaces for desperate male victims who face extreme social stigma that motivates them to keep quiet publicly about the abuse they're enduring. The anonymity provided by Men's Aid helpline empowers victims, breaking the barriers of the deep-seated stigmas and fear that deter men from reporting domestic abuse they suffer. Male victims are six times less likely to report domestic abuse to the Gardaí, making support services like Men's Aid even more crucial to the journey towards rectifying this inequality. I urge you to sign this petition, calling for the government to increase its funding for Men's Aid, so this organization will have the resources to expand it's helpline to 24/7 service, . Your signature could mean the difference between victim suffering in silence, being unable to reach help when they need it most or in the moment where they're strong enough to seek it. This would help to bring Men's Aid in line with Women's Aid who has a 24/7 helpline, ensuring that any victim, regardless of their gender, can seek help whenever they need it. Please sign this petition now! 

Domestic abuse ruins lives, and in the worst cases, it ends them. Right now, people in Ireland can unknowingly enter relationships with repeat domestic abusers, because there is no way to check their history.  Jennie’s story is just one example of this devastating reality. She believed she had met a kind and loving partner. What she didn’t know was that he had a history of domestic violence and had served time in prison. By the time she found out, she was trapped in a cycle of control, violence, and fear—a cycle that could have been prevented.  In other countries, domestic abuse registers and the "Right to Ask" & "Right to Know" policies save lives by giving people access to vital, life-protecting information. But in Ireland, abusers are free to hide their past, moving from victim to victim with no accountability.  Jennie’s Law would change that. It would: ✅ Empower people to make informed choices about their safety. ✅ Allow Gardaí to proactively warn those at risk. ✅ Hold abusers accountable for hiding their violent past. ✅ Protect victims before it’s too late.  We cannot allow more people to suffer in silence, unknowingly trapped in abusive relationships. Sign this petition to demand urgent action from the Irish Government—because knowledge is power, and lives depend on it. 

I urge you to join this campaign because eating disorders don't discriminate but access to treatment does. Men continue to face stigma, misdiagnosis and lack of accessible care.   • Boys and men now make up about one-third of those diagnosed with an eating disorder (Mitchison, D., et al., Psychological Medicine, Vol. 50, No. 6, 2019).  • 25% of children with anorexia are male. (Broadwater, 2018).  • 50% of people with binge eating disorder are men. (Jackson & Jackson, 2024) "I want to be a minor chink in the armour of stigma, that often still portrays eating disorders as more of a female distress. I want to show how easy it is to be romanced into the trap, regardless of age, gender, sexuality or ethnicity- as eating disorders don't discriminate but infiltrate your heart and begin to destroy"(1 in 4 Men: Christopher’s Eating Disorder Story, 2023) Christopher urges men to speak out, to not suffer in silence and to challenge this gendered stereotype. 

Equality for Children, Irish Gay Dads and LGBT Ireland are calling on the Irish Government to immediately amend  and commence the Assisted Human Reproductive Act (AHR Act), as was promised by their predecessors, and to immediately commence the CFRA (2015) section of the AHR Act, to ensure that all children born through Assisted and Donor Reproduction to LGBTQ+ families in Ireland, have a pathway to a legal connection with both of their parents. “We urge you to sign our petition in order to push the Irish government to take the actions our children so desperately need.” Ranae von Meding, CEO of Equality for Children says, “Thousands of children in Ireland, including my youngest child, are denied legal parent-child relationship with both of their parents. This includes children born to gay dads through surrogacy, children conceived outside of clinical settings and children conceived or born outside of Ireland. As we celebrate 10 years of Marriage Equality, we cannot help but reflect on the fact that we have not truly achieved equality until children born into same-sex marriages in Ireland are afforded the same protections as children born into all other marriages in Ireland." “This must change. It’s not equal and it’s not what we voted for.” Seamus Kearney Martone, Chairperson of Irish Gay Dads says, "As we approach the 10-year anniversary of the marriage equality referendum, we celebrate how far Ireland has come—but we also recognize the work that remains. For gay dads in Ireland, the journey to parenthood is still filled with legal and practical barriers. We urge the government to amend and commence the Assisted Human Reproduction legislation without further delay. We’ve had positive discussions with the Departments of Health, Justice, and Children, and now that a new government has been formed we are committed to continuing these conversations to ensure that the voices of gay dads are heard and included in shaping this legislation. " "Equality must extend to all families, and now is the time to make that a reality."

It was promised in the Budget to be rolled out in January 2025, but the government hasn't delivered free HRT. This would support a struggling demographic, i.e. Peri-menopausal and menopausal women.  HRT can enable women going through menopause to manage symptoms such as increased anxiety, depression, hot flushes, misophonia, panic attacks, insomnia etc (there are at least 35 symptoms) thereby ensuring women can live a more productive and fulfilling life and maintain good relationships.  HRT is also heart and bone loss protective. It supports working single women who receive very little tax benefits compared to those that are married and or are mothers through no fault of their own. 

Currently the cost of HRT is prohibitive.  In 2024 the Irish government promised free HRT for all starting on 1 January 2025.  This promise has not been fulfilled.

Everyone should sign becasue everyone should be able to express themselves through jewellery. I've wanted my ears pierced for so long, but haven't been able to get them done for this exact reason.

Period poverty occurs when someone can't afford or access suitable period products. A 2018 survey of 1,100 girls aged 12-19 living in Ireland found that approximately 50% of girls surveyed occasionally experienced period poverty, with 10% using unsuitable products as a result of cost barriers (Plan International). The evidence suggests that young students are particularly vulnerable to period poverty, shame, and stigma. The government must support the provision of free period products in second-level institutions to remove barriers to participation and well-being, while also helping to break down the stigma surrounding menstruation. In 2021, the Free Provision of Period Products Bill was proposed, yet, in October 2024, it still remains in Seanad Éireann. In 2022, the HSE National Social Inclusion Office instigated the Period Dignity Project that aimed to reduce period stigma, increase education and distribute free period products to social inclusion target groups. The project was largely successful in reducing stigma and providing products to those in need. The success of this initiative can serve as a model for implementing free period products in Irish secondary schools. We call to expedite this process and to make funding available for the provision of period products in bathrooms in all second-level institutions across Ireland. We urge you to support this vital initiative by signing our petition, recognizing that access to period products is as essential as soap and toilet paper in our schools.