I would like to encourage people to start thinking about planting NATIVE species in their gardens, instead of foreign exotics, which are mostly force-grown by garden centres and are of very little value to our native wildlife!! Good examples of native species are: hawthorn (crataegus monogyna) which makes a wonderful thorny hedge. Also great is holly (ilex aquifolium) a red-listed evergreen with beautiful shiny dark-green leaves and red berries, much loved by birds. Another excellent choice is our native black elder (Sambucus Nigra) and our native Rowan tree (Sorbus Aucuparia). You could also plant silver birch (Betula Pendula) in a slightly larger garden. There are many more species to choose from, but those are some of the best!! I'm in the process of creating my own little piece of heaven in my back garden: most of what I've planted is native to Ireland (and central Europe) as you can see in my campaign photograph. My garden is still very young and mightn't look like much, so don't be put off by what it looks like right now!! Wildlife gardening is wonderful, as I am increasingly finding out myself!! Not only am I learning SOOO much (which is great for the brain) - I am also getting plenty of fresh air and gentle exercise, which beats spending too much time indoors or on social media!! Wildlife gardening is also wonderful for MENTAL HEALTH, another topical issue I care deeply about: I suffer from anxiety and find, that being out in my garden always helps me to relax and unwind! I am looking for like-minded people I can share my passion with!! Also, we need to start putting down less concrete and gravel in our gardens: we are at risk of turning our beautiful neighbourhoods into an urban wasteland!! As most of us already know, many of our native wildlife species are in serious decline, due to modern intensive farming practices in the countryside and also for other reasons. Many of our songbirds, for example, have found refuge in our towns and cities, where they have been able to find hedges to nest in and have been able to take advantage of various food sources no longer available in their previous native habitats. I am increasingly seeing a trend, where people are 'tidying up' their gardens, by putting down more and more hard landscaping and by taking out trees, hedges or shrubs, crowding out our urban wildlife in the process!! This is happening EVERYWHERE, not just in my local area!! I think this is tragic and will do very little for our own wellbeing in the long run. We could create an urban paradise, abundant with wildlife, simply by planting NATIVE trees, shrubs, hedges and wildflowers in our own gardens!! This would also help tackle climate change. This is an appeal, not to politicians or other officials, but to my fellow citizens, who - I'm sure - don't want to end up living in a concrete jungle, either!! PLEASE SIGN MY PETITION, SO I KNOW, PEOPLE CARE ABOUT THIS ISSUE!! Maybe you could pledge to plant even ONE native shrub, tree or wildflower bed in your own garden!! It's time to open our hearts and bring nature back into our lives!!

**WE NEED SUPPORT TO SAVE OUR HOME** This is our story: With rents soaring to an all time high and mortgages becoming harder to obtain, we needed a plan. Like most people our age, renting in the private sector whilst also trying to save became impossible. That's when the idea of temporarily living in a cabin (to the rear of a privately owned home) to continue to save up for our own home, became appealing. If fortunate enough to be in a position to do this, that's great. The council will not have a problem with it nor will they approach you. Planners acknowledge the proliferation of log cabins across the city. If no objections are made they can turn a blind eye. However, if there is an objection.. Then it becomes a "planning issue". Which brings us to our current situation, in short.. DCC enforcement have ordered the cabin to be removed on the basis of one complaint, from one neighbour. There's not much need to go into details but everyone who is familiar with the situation has seen first hand how this particular neighbour has treated myself and my family throughout this ordeal and I can only hope that they hang their head in shame at their disgusting behaviour. We're calling on the council to relax the laws and clarify the grey area regarding permission for these sorts of temporary structures at the upcoming meeting on 25th september. I'm not suggesting allowing these structures is going to fix the housing crisis. There are record numbers nearing 20,000 on Dublin City councils housing list. 1,338 families with 2,886 children are living in homeless accommodation in the Dublin area. Building houses is the only real solution but Ireland does not have a public housing system to meet the needs of society and the countries housing crisis is most likely down to housing being treated as a commodity rather than a human right. It's simply not acceptable. The right to housing is recognised by the United Nations (article 25 in the universal declaration of human rights) and the UN have been active in highlighting homelessness as a VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS. Being deprived of a home gives rise to a social identity through which "the homeless" is constituted as a social group subject to discrimination and stigmatisation. This housing crisis affects people in so many different ways, and it's going to continue to affect us and have a knock on affect for years to come. Most frightening, its damaging the children, the youth of this country and in turn the future of this country. If by allowing these structures temporarily will help even a few families avoid being part of these statistics.. It's worth it right? Because every family matters. Just one of the many "immediate obligation of states" from the UN is to eliminate the practice of forced eviction, especially when it would lead to homelessness. I believe that having a place to call home is the most fundamental of human rights. For me personally a "home" is somewhere safe and secure where my two boys can feel comfortable and be themselves. This is exactly what we have provided for them as our response to this housing crisis and we won't let it be taken away from them without a fight. Please help us raise awareness on this and show your support by signing our petition..thank you!

We want an investigation to be implemented into the mass stranding of at least 16 offshore deep diving cetaceans, beaked whales which occurred from August 3rd to August 25th 2018, along the north-west coast of Ireland from Co. Mayo, Donegal and Co. Antrim. Simultaneously, 13 beaked whales stranded off the Scottish coasts and 2 more were reported stranded in Iceland. These are minimum estimates of mortality as they do not account for animals which may have sunk to the seabed or animals stranded in remote places and remain unreported. Previous studies on cetacean carcass drift have suggested that strandings represent a minimum of at sea mortality; depending on drift conditions carcasses may not always wash ashore, thus, the actual number of dead animals may be much higher (Peltier et al., 2014). Other mass stranding events of beaked whales around the world indicate beaked whales are susceptible to death or injury directly (temporary/permanent hearing damage) or indirectly (gas embolism, ( also known as the 'bends' ) due to extremely loud man-made oceanographic noise such as that produced by low and mid frequency naval sonar and certain types of acoustic survey used to examine the sea floor and below. Mass strandings of beaked whales associated with naval exercises have been recorded in Greece, the Canaries and the Bahamas. With no certain cause of these beaked whale mortalities on Irish shores having yet been established, this needs to be recognised as an unusual mass stranding event (UME) in an effort to identify the potential cause(s) and perhaps prevent future stranding events. Beaked whales are among the most diverse yet least understood groups of marine mammals.owing to their deep-water oceanic existence and typically inconspicuous surface behavior. Feeding in depths often exceeding 1000 m, most species are rarely seen; some have never been identified alive at sea and are known only from beach-stranded carcasses. According to the IUCN Red List, approximately 40% of marine mammal species are considered Data Deficient, whereas for the Ziphiidae, 90% are Data Deficient. Population trends for all beaked whale species are listed as unknown on the IUCN Red List. Ziphius and Mesoplodon are the two beaked whale genera known to suffer impacts from naval sonar activities. They exhibit strong behavioral responses to certain types of active sonar, resulting in altered movements and space use for prolonged periods after exposure (e.g., several days). In more extreme cases there can be physiological consequences leading to death or stranding. Mass strandings of beaked whales throughout the Northern Hemisphere have been associated with offshore military activity (Moore & Barlow, 2013). It is important that we aim to mitigate these stranding events and reduce human impacts on beaked whales in Irish waters. Thank you for taking the time to address our concern, Kind Regards, Emer Keaveney, Executive Director, ORCA Ireland.

We are asking Fingal County Council to implement new child safety measures for the Seabury Estate in Malahide. Child Safety Measures Needed: 1. New ramp between Seabury Place and Seabury Crescent 2. New signage to say 'Slow Down - Children at play' along Seabury Lane and Seabury Crescent 3. Speed limit to be reduced (currently it's 50km/hr) 4. Business Work Vans are parked out on the road (we kindly request that they park in their driveways or elsewhere) ________________________________________________ Why are we requesting these safety measures? - In recent years, many of the local, younger children have been playing outside on the road. - They usually play here in the cul-de-sac or just beyond the dangerous junction where Seabury Lane meets Seabury Crescent. - Signs to indicate appropriate driving speeds / children at play are not clearly visible. - It has been noted that some cars drive from Seabury Place onto Seabury Lane at high speeds and with little regard for the children at play. - Many cars also turn from Estuary Road onto Seabury Lane and drive at high speeds, despite the small ramp which is about half way down the road. - There are cars parked along Seabury Lane, including 2 or sometimes 3 large white work vans parked along Seabury Lane which make it more difficult for drivers to see children playing up ahead.

Blessington and the surrounding areas have a growing young population. Presently the residents must travel outside of our community to Naas or Tallaght to access swimming facilities. The nearest community swimming pool to West Wicklow, provided by Wicklow County Council, is in Bray, an hour drive away from Blessington by car. According to the 2016 Census the municipal district population of West Wicklow is over 26,000 people. A community swimming pool would be of great benefit to the local communities and would help promote physical exercise, water safety and provide local employment. We believe that a community swimming pool needs to be provided for the growing population of West Wicklow.

Major breakthroughs are being made in the hydrogen technology sector in transport, energy production and storage. The production of hydrogen is getting greener month on month. Worldwide, countries are running trials with hydrogen as it's main source of it's green transport needs for the future. If the Irish government fails to include Hydrogen in future plans then we will be left behind yet again. We have the capacity as a nation both in our technology and chemistry sectors, to drive this forward and to lead the way on green technology.

Ireland is facing a child obesity crisis with huge long term implications. Part of the reason for this is the marketing of high sugar and high fat foods specifically targeting children. Fast food chains are particularly guilty of this. Granting permission to a fast food chain restaurant beside a primary school and Montessori school will have negative consequences for the health of the 100s of children that currently pass this site on a daily basis and the 1000s that will do so in the long term if permission is granted. Let’s protect our children and set an example to other Councils around the country

Savita was by all accounts a bright, vibrant, kind young woman who was failed by the state- her kindness and life as an immigrant who came to Ireland to provide care to people should be recognised and celebrated. Savita’s unnecessary death and cost to her family should be acknowledged and the role of this unnecessary death and her family’s efforts played in gaining bodily autonomy for women, (and also trans men and anyone with a womb). She deserves to be remembered, acknowledged, and her courageous family, who have been put through so much pain and hurt, deserve our thanks. Savita’s place in Ireland’s history (though a shameful chapter) is important and should be acknowledged. I would like Galway to install a memorial in her honour to remind us of her contribution to Ireland as an immigrant and to always remember her tragic death and place this as part of Ireland’s history, setting us toward the latest referendum. After this vote we need to remember Savita, and allow Irish people a place to go to pay their respects to her and her family.

Ireland needs to unlock the current suppressed potential for cycling — transport, mental and physical health, and environmental benefits, and also more wide-ranging positives of mass cycling. These wider benefits include giving teenagers and parents freedom from the parent taxi; freeing many people across the country from the restrictive options of driving or depending on infrequent public transport; and supporting “last mile” trips to high-quality public transport.

The housing crisis is now worse than at any point in the state’s history - 10,000 Homeless (1,739 Homeless Families – 3, 755 Homeless Children) - Average Rents Across Dublin = €1,614 - Government subsidies to landlords in 2017 = over €623k - 600,000 young people stuck at home, unable to access housing according to last census It was recently reported that there is enough state owned land (local authority and NAMA) zoned for residential development to build over 110,000 units https://www.irishtimes.com/…/state-owns-enough-zoned-land-t… Yet what has Dublin City Council's approach been to the development of the land it owns? In the case of the Lawrence Lands (Oscar Traynor Rd) they plan to mostly privatised the site with developers being invited to construct all 600 plus units but keep 70% for themselves (50% purely for profit and 20% for an undefined ‘affordable’ rent) with just the remaining 30% for public housing. At this rate we will never house those on the housing list as well as the hundreds of thousands who cannot even apply for public housing let alone the additional demand the arises year on year. Rather than waiting for similar bad proposals for other council owned sites the initiative should be taken by housing campaigners and public representatives to propose how best public land can be used to help resolve the crisis. Solidarity's alternative proposal for Belcamp Lane/Northern Cross Local Solidarity Councillor Michael O'Brien is proposing an alternative approach across the state where public housing (social and affordable) is built on publicly owned land. Take the Belcamp Lane site at Northern Cross which is council owned but where there are no plans on the horizon to build housing. Solidarity proposes that some 500 apartments and duplexes, similar in design to Newtown Court could be built and made available for 50% social and 50% affordable housing to local people with a housing need. This would be financed through the Social Housing Investment Fund. Accommodation meeting the needs of the local Traveller community could also be delivered on this site. Cllr O'Brien engaged the voluntary services of an architect to come up with an indicated site plan which shows what could be done. In this plan there are - the are 119 units on each floor (i.e. 4 floors = 476 units, allowing for duplexes). - the 3 beds are 100m2, the 2 beds are 81m2, the studios are 45.5m2 (a duplex would be two studios one on top of the other). - all units (except at the north of the site) are accessed from the north and have southeast or southwest facing balconies, and share south facing gardens (the public open space is mostly divided up between the units in this way). - there are pedestrian routes connecting the blocks, so that some of the ground floor plans will be different to allow for this This is not a fixed proposal set in stone but a vision of what can be done. If community support can be built up for this proposal, taking on board further suggestions and amendments this plan will be brought to Dublin City Council's North Central Area Committee and Housing Special Policy Committee with a view to securing the support from other councillors and putting the ball in the court of the Council officials to seriously engage. Check out https://www.facebook.com/PublicHousingBelcampNorthernX/ for the progress of the campaign

It would be a shame to knock this historic building which has a great social history. This building was an integral part of the Market Square with everything being weighed there corn , potatoes and even the goose or turkey at Christmas. The shelter was done up in the early nineties under an urban renewal scheme. This shelter is being used everyday by local people to sit and rest in and for people waiting for the community bus. If this development was to be replaced with it's an open air development. It would be open to all the elements. This would be better suited to a warmer climate not where it rains two hundred and fifty days a year. The shelter should be left there. Save The Shelter.

It is important for the health and well being of the children in the area. We have a substantial amount of children under the age of eighteen in Kinsealy Court especially between the age's of 2-16yrs and the park has plenty of room to facilitate one. It will also help with keeping the children from playing on the road so much as there is a large volume of kids that play on the road on a daily basis. The closest playground to the estate is Holywell which is not an option as it's too far for the children to travel to.