According to the 2016 Census, there were 25,808 people living in the Gorey electoral area which includes Courtown. Each year the population of North Wexford expands dramatically as people move to live in the county during the summer months, and with the growth of working-from-home options, many now remain in North Wexford all year round. Added to this the number of tourists who come to spend time on our beaches, points to a clear need for an extension of lifeguarding services. The development of lifeguarding services at additional beaches in North County Wexford is key to developing and marketing our beaches as a tourist destination. The provision of accommodation, footfall to and from food outlets, local store shopping, and the development of sea-based activity/enterprises, other seasonal enterprises, will all benefit from lifeguarding additional beaches in the north county. North Wexford Open Water Swimmers aka Sammy's Swimmers is a community of over eighty swimmers of mixed abilities, from daily dippers to competitive open water swimmers (triathletes, iron (wo)men, marathon swimmers, and one channel swimmer). While the majority of members are living locally, every summer we welcome back our seasonal residents. We share a passion for the sea and surrounding coastline.

Disposable Vapes are a product that have surged in popularity in recent years. These products are a threat to: 1. Public Health - With disposable vapes nicotine is delivered through an aerosol vapor which has been shown to have inflammatory effects on the respiratory system. As well, experts have warned of the potential of disposable vapes to act a gateway for smoking, especially for young people and adolescents. 2. The Environment - Disposable vapes are single-use items that contain plastic, electronics, and lithium-ion batteries. Disposable vapes are more frequently becoming a source of litter on our streets. This can result in harmful waste materials, such as mercury and cadmium, being leached into our environment, negatively impacting human health and biodiversity. These risks are simply not worth the convenience of a single use product! 3. Waste of Valuable Resources - The opportunity cost of global disposable vape production for the green economy is massive. The very materials such as lithium and copper are the precious materials needed for greener technology. It is estimated 90 tons of lithium and 1,600 tons of copper were used for the global production of disposable vapes in 2022. To put this into perspective, this amount of lithium is equivalent to the amount needed to produce 11,000 electric vehicles and is enough copper for 1.6 million electric vehicle charger units So let's put an end to the madness that is disposable vapes. Let's protect our health, our young people and our environment. Sign the Petition! Interested in reading more, check out the following source: https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/minister-defends-plan-to-ban-disposable-vapes-theyre-making-the-world-worse/42071990.html https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/new-laws-to-ban-sale-of-vaping-products-to-under-18s/42141930.html https://web.archive.org/web/20220718111558id_/https://www.bmj.com/content/bmj/378/bmj-2021-065997.full.pdf https://www.ft.com/content/6d5ed980-8b91-4372-9e7e-14eda5419325

We're calling for Dublin City Council to take part in #NoMowMay and cease mowing the grass of parks and green spaces during the month of May to support wildlife. Why DCC should take part in #NoMowMay: - Pollinators, like bees and butterflies, are the backbone of a healthy ecosystem. They rely on early flowering plants such as daisies, dandelions, and other wildflowers as a valuable source of nectar. - The longer grass provides welcome cover for foraging wildlife such as birds and hedgehogs, as well as a wide variety of insects to snack on. - A healthy lawn with long grass and wildflowers can help in the fight against climate change by absorbing pollution and locking carbon away in the soil. Dublin City Council has signed up for the All-Ireland Polinator Plan which recommends reducing mowing to 5 times a year (Once in mid April and then not again until end of May) but this clearly is not being observed. The All-Ireland Pollinator Plan notes reducing mowing as the most cost effective and impactful way to provide food for pollinators and other insects. Visible improvements have been made by DCC in parks around the city to encourage biodiversity and this is welcomed and appreciated! All we ask is that DCC ease up on mowing wherever possible to give our vital pollinators the best chance at survival. Further reading: Why bees matter? Bees are the most important pollinator of crops and native plant species in Ireland. They are a key component of our wildlife and one of the busiest, least appreciated work forces we have. A study from the Department of the Environment found that bees are worth €53m a year to the economy. In Ireland crops such as apples, strawberries, raspberries, tomatoes, blackcurrants, peppers, courgettes and pumpkins are reliant on bees for pollination. It is estimated that almost three quarters of our wild plants rely on insect pollinators, of which bees are most important. But bees are declining at a record level in Ireland. Due to habitat loss and the use of pesticides more than half of Ireland’s bee species have undergone substantial declines since 1980. The distribution of 42 species has declined by more than 50%. (Source: pollinators.ie) All-Ireland Polinator Plan: https://pollinators.ie/no-mow-may/ All-Ireland Polinator Plan for councils: https://pollinators.ie/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Councils_actions-to-help-pollinators-2018-WEB.pdf

An equal society is a better society for everyone.

A healthy ocean means thriving wildlife, sustainable fisheries, and livelihoods for fishers, but a proposal to rewrite EU fisheries rules threatens to undermine all of this by legalising overfishing on a massive scale. It would allow dramatic underreporting of catches(1), but Minister McConalogue can prevent it from going ahead. This relaxing of the rules has been tried before, in the Baltic Sea(2), where it contributed to the collapse of vital fish populations and “incentivised” hidden overfishing(1). The biggest benefits would go mostly to vast supertrawlers like the Margiris, which has been recorded fishing off the Irish coast in recent weeks(3). The cost would be felt by the rest of us. This is our last chance to stop this. Join us in calling on Minister McConalogue to uphold Ireland’s obligation(4) to ensure the accuracy of catch reporting by blocking this dangerous proposal. It’s time to stand up for the ocean and everyone who depends on it. Find out more about why this petition is so important by visiting the BirdWatch Ireland website: https://birdwatchireland.ie/join-us-in-calling-on-minister-mcconalogue-to-oppose-eu-council-proposals-that-would-undermine-accurate-catch-reporting-and-risk-further-overfishing/ (1) https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/16/loophole-quotas-overfishing-endangered-species-eu-papers (2) https://ejfoundation.org/reports/a-case-study-of-the-margin-of-tolerance-in-the-baltic-sea (3) https://www.independent.ie/news/environment/alarm-for-marine-life-and-local-fishing-crews-as-monster-super-trawler-fishes-in-irish-waters-for-a-third-day-42388536.html (4) https://curia.europa.eu/juris/document/document.jsf;jsessionid=3E9E9FB0F6680A682CD5505D13ECBF56?text=&docid=253727&pageIndex=0&doclang=EN&mode=lst&dir=&occ=first&part=1&cid=2468322

Environmental damage is an existential threat and we are facing disaster. Much of our planet will not be habitable if we continue on the current pathway.

This will help people reduce their commute time, generate economic activity in Edenderry, and enhance Irelands rail network. Edenderry is a community in crisis. 70% of people commute out for work or education. Unfortunately, there is poor public transport options. 25% of people use bus, 2.5% get a taxi, and 42% use a private car. 10% of people use their car to travel to a train station nearby and get the train from there. This doesn’t have to be the way! 95% of people support Edenderry getting a train station. This overwhelming show of support can’t be ignored! Edenderry can only grow, thrive and prosper with a train station, and this will help with people’s commute and the environment. Join the fight today. Sign and Share this petition

We have come together to draw attention to a 28.87 acre site being sold in Carlow. Gateway & Adjoining Lands, Strawhall, Athy Road, Carlow Town, Co. Carlow is for sale by Greencore Group plc. Advertised as “Tremendous potential for further development” There is zero mentioning of any mature trees nor woodland within the advertisement; lot 6 has a well established woodland (Link below for sale details) We are calling on you to help us protect these trees from potential destruction. We want these woodland back as a public amenity. . We want to protect the wildlife under the Wildlife Act 1976 that call this place home already. Trees are vital to preserve and hugely important to biodiversity in the ongoing climate change. And as we have seen before, trees and woodlands removed overnight; we have come together to prevent this from happening. We need our trees! Though this is not solely about the trees and wildlife this is about the community coming together seeing the potential these lands already have for the community. For our future community. Protecting and enhancing our environment for future generations. And only a brisk walk away from our town centre. What we need? We need time. To buy time we need support. We need you to join us, sign our petitions, and share our social posts. Write your support to newspapers. Contact the local representatives. Contact the Carlow County Council. Spread the word for the love of our trees we are coming together! Already a large community has come together in Carlow and further nationwide to bring these woodlands into the public domain. We hope you will share some support and hopefully some day you will get to come visit 😉 Contact us [email protected] (Link to sale details below in "campaign website")

It is vital Water Services are kept in public ownership with public servants providing dedicated service. Privatisation of water services has failed miserably globally. Look at Thames Water in the UK, 14 billion pounds Sterling in debt, pollution, leaks, lack of repairs and now the banks move in and take over Water Services. Water will now be a currency.

We urgently call on the government to increase the number of gardaí in Newbridge up to the national average, which will help to improve community safety. We believe that this increase will require the assignment of a substantial number of new and experienced gardaí to our community.

-Students in UCC do not want to see the return of Race Day. - Race Day promotes animal cruelty, gambling, fast fashion and binge drinking. All the while, creating an unsafe environment for attendees and portraying a bad reputation of the student body to the public. -Efforts should be put into events which promote better values; events that do not use animals for our entertainment, and that do not encourage young people to gamble during a cost of living crisis. Horse Racing in Ireland -176 horses have died on racetracks since 2021. Thousands more are bred for the industry and are killed when they are not profitable. -€72.8 million of taxpayers money was paid out to the horse racing industry in 2023, compared to only €15 million total which was paid to the FAI, GAA, Athletics Ireland, Swim Ireland and the Special Olympics combined. -Horses are unique and intelligent animals, we don’t need to use them for entertainment. For more information… -List of Horses killed on Irish Racetracks https://irishhorsedeathwatch.com/ -Watch the BBC’s documentary ‘Panorama - The Dark Side of Horse Racing’ -Visit website of the National Animal Rights Association https://naracampaigns.org/ and read their campaign to stop Horse Racing https://naracampaigns.org/horse-racing/ -Further reading on Blood Sports in Ireland https://banbloodsports.wordpress.com/?fbclid=PAAabu4O8kG-Vv2TmH-3iaB3_MvIfy2pNcc51VIVVam3SVW80ndInZ0EvA0YU -Sign petition to stop government funding of Horse Racing https://www.change.org/p/irish-government-stop-giving-millions-of-euros-to-horse-racing - Australian Coalition for the Protection of Rachorses, #NupTheCup Campaign https://horseracingkills.com To support horses in Ireland visit My Lovely Horse Rescue https://www.mylovelyhorserescue.com/

Another 7 wind turbines are proposed to be built on a mountain above Glencar in Leitrim, which already has been exploited by the wind industry more than any other Irish county. These turbines would carry the name "Charafenna wind farm" and would expand and connect with the pre-existing Carrickeeney windfarm, as well as the additional and current proposal for another 18 machines on Dough Mountain to the East. It would require excavations to create a cable connection across 9 Kilometres of farmland to the electrical substation at Manorhamilton, a significant widening of the high mountain road, the addition of a new circular industrial service road on the top of the mountain, plus 7 additional buildings (one for each turbine). Each machine would be at least 150m tall and very visible from the head of the Glencar Lake Valley and the world famous Devil’s Chimney waterfall. They would overshadow a great many residential homes in close proximity as well as their turbary rights on the mountain above, producing severe noise pollution and shadow flicker, devaluation of property and a loss of local jobs in tourism and other fields. —— From this elevation there are magnificent views across the Glencar and Glenade valleys as well as an astounding vista right across Donegal bay to the distant mountains above Killybegs. Home to hen harriers, barn owls, golden eagles, sparrowhawks, buzzards, kites, grouse, red squirrels, pine martens, hares, bats, foxes, badgers and bees - This is quite simply one of the most pristine places in Leitrim and indeed Ireland. —— And whilst of course the world is in dire need of better solutions to our energy issues, it is easy to understand that this old technology cannot possibly be the best solution. - Firstly we need widespread education to encourage every household to wake up and cut their own energy usage…there are a myriad of simple ways to do this. - For energy generation we need to be investing in far more progressive thinking than we currently do - this could perhaps include offshore windfarms instead (although not good for marine life), wave power generation, solar collection and other far less obtrusive and destructive technologies. - Wind turbines have a life expectancy of approximately 20 years and are not biodegradeable or recyclable. They end up in landfill. - They create a significant loss of biodiversity - in this case, affecting a rich and specific local fauna which includes rare and protected species. —— When making decisions which directly affect the community, our ancestors traditionally considered the impact upon at least 7 future generations. Would that we in Ireland were still this wise and forward thinking… What will our children and grandchildren say about us when they realise that we selfishly made irreversible, ignorant decisions which altered and destroyed the mountains and inhabitants of these very special places? These lands were beloved of W.B.Yeats, our great poet and thinker, who would surely be turning in his grave to see Glencar progressively overshadowed by major industry? —— In recent years Leitrim County Council has had a history of leniency in its responses to such applications, a stance which now needs to be scrutinised and reevaluated to be in line with the future, not the past. It is time that our authorities cease to think in purely monetary terms, ticking boxes to benefit themselves and their industral partners, but instead to begin to lead with impeccability and forward thinking so as to leave behind a legacy from which everyone in Ireland may benefit. Please add your voice and your intent to this petition, so that together we may share and cherish this precious land for many more centuries to come, and wisely show the way into the future for new generations who may better care for it as well as for one another…