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.

There is a ready made ideal site for a playground in Rockfield Park, namely the now unused square surfaced with tarmac which used to serve as an all weather five-a-side. DCC intend re-greening this when it could serve as a ready made foundation for a playground. A properly secured playground would be a great amenity and would lead to a more widespread use of the park by the community

Based on original articles in the media, the plan is to build approx. 700+ houses in Tinakilly. Wicklow County Council has approved the first round of this development, for 271 houses which will be built in the fields to the right of Tinakilly avenue (going up the avenue). The fields to the left of Tinakilly avenue are also owned by the same consortium and are zoned for residential development. There is no doubt, that in the future, this consortium will also apply to build an additional significant number of houses here. The plans for the 271 houses involve a phase 1 of the Rathnew inner relief road development, which will run from Broomhall interchange (traffic lights) to half way up Tinakilly avenue. Phase 2 development of this road will connect to Newrath (approx back of Fiat garage) which will see Tinakilly avenue cut in half. This road will be a two lane carriageway with footpaths and cycle lanes on both sides. This major road artery will simply destroy the existing avenue. For years, Tinakilly has been an area of significant beauty and has been respected and enjoyed by the people of Rathnew and surrounding areas. The primary schools have enjoyed their nature walks here and continue to do so. It was described by the late Éamon de Buitléar as an area of outstanding, natural beauty and one of the finest examples of a sylvan avenue. The ecosystem will be destroyed. Fauna and flora will be wiped out. Some things are irreplaceable. The environs of Tinakilly are also home to two protected structures (Tinakilly House and Broadlough House), however, as the lands where once owned by Captain Robert Halpin, we feel the entire area should be considered as a protected landscape. There is already an abundance of proposed and existing houses developments that can cater for the demand of our village. The current population of Rathnew is approx. 3,500 and we are approaching max capacity in our brand new schools (Dec 2016). This development is not in the interest of the people of Rathnew. If you agree, please sign the petition.

Dublin City Council have demanded the return of the building following an unanimous vote by elected Representatives to have the building returned to community control. Cllr Tina MacVeigh got the support of the community and all the public representatives to return this iconic building to Community Control ! This has so far not happened despite a deadline imposed on Martin Keane to return the keys by 31st Jan 2018. The businessman has held the building for over 20 years and has not delivered on his promises. The building needs to be returned to Dublin City Council so that the council and the community it serves can decide together on the future of this iconic Dublin building and how best it can serve its community! The latest that Cllr Tina MacVeigh has done is to ask the council for a public consultation to deliver a simple message to our council why we the community needs this building in community control ! This June we need to give them a simple message take the building back and let the community have a community space !

Planning laws are supposed to be beyond political interference.

Temple Bar Food Market was set up 21 years ago by a group of growers and producers with a vision to bring Irish, artisan, local and high quality produce to a city centre location. These traders have committed to the market and seen it go from strength to strength over the years, with the support of customers old and new. With the dissolution of Temple Bar Cultural Trust, TBFM is now being run by Dublin City Council. Therefor Meeting House Square has gone from being private property to a public site, which requires all traders to acquire a casual trading licence to trade. Our current bye-laws were introduced by Dublin City Council on March 4th 2013. These bye-laws are now being reviewed by public consultation. Below are some of the new terms and conditions of trading. These T+Cs apply to all casual trading licences in the city - from bric a brac, to flowers, hawkers and food markets. Temple Bar Food Market is also subject to these, and clearly one size does not fit all! We are asking our customers to sign this petition in solidarity with traders to have our amendments considered and taken on board before these new bye-laws come into effect. They may seem like small insignificant details, but they have a huge impact on the running of small businesses and the food market as a whole. WHAT YOU CAN DO! Act now to help the market — sign the petition. We will include this act of support in our submission. Copy and paste our amendments below and send them as a submission with regards specifically to TBFM to [email protected] All this helps to make it clear we want the integrity of the market maintained under the hands of Dublin City Council! Deadline for submission: before 17.00 on Thursday 29th March, 2018 NEW TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF TRADING 1 "VACANT PITCHES Designated area trading pitch allocation policy Vacant pitches will be offered on a first come first served basis, except in the case of new areas which will be allocated by lottery." A first come first serve basis will not work for TBFM, nor a lottery system. We need a quality control measure whereby applicants need to show their high food standards. We also have a quota for hot food which is full, and so only grocery and produce based stalls should be considered until a hot food stall leaves. There has been an exception made for producers who are selling their own produce alongside a hot food offering - as this hot food offering helps to promote the product. i.e Broughgammon Butchers. Specific areas we are missing and would be welcome are: fishmonger, loose leaf tea, fermented goods 2 "PITCHES Pitch numbers according to DCC: 23" We have 22 pitches currently occupied - we have two pitches free. Therefore, the total number of pitches is 24. 4 "PRESENCE OF LICENCE HOLDER/STAFF A licence holder may nominate a maximum of two agents to assist in the operation of a designated trading stall under the following terms and conditions: (maximum now included) There may only be a maximum of two people operating the stall at any one time and each of them must be trading within one metre of the stall. (maximum now included) The licence holder must be present at all times where practicable. It is acceptable that the licence holder be absent during holiday periods or due to illness but this absence must be advised to the Casual Trading Section as soon as practically possible. Phone: 01-2222165 E-mail: [email protected]. A medical certificate is required for prolonged period of absence." Traders at TBFM would often have more than two staff members, or have rotating staff lists. It would be impractical to restrict a stall to two specific staff members or ‘agents.’ We would ask that this particular term be waived for the market. It is also impractical for the licence holder to be present at all times - with or without the excuse of illness. Many licence holders would be responsible for other markets on the same day, deliveries etc, and therefore leave their stall in the capable hands of staff. 5 "WASTE MANAGEMENT The removal of waste generated at each trading stall is the responsibility of the trader. Under the Waste Management Act 1996 traders have two options to dispose of their waste: Arrange for a private waste disposal company to do it. The trader can arrange to dispose of their waste in an alternative proper manner. Both options must comply with the Waste Management Act 1996 and relevant EU regulations/directives. Traders are reminded that when they are disposing of their waste and either fail to do so or do it in a way which infringes the Waste Management Act 1996 they are liable to be prosecuted by the local authority. Traders are also reminded of their responsibilities under the Protection of the Environment Act, 2003 and the Litter Pollution Act 1997." Currently TBFM waste disposal is organized by the management company employed by DCC. This includes public waste i.e. created by customers purchasing food at the market. This does not include personal waste, which traders already dispose of themselves. The traders would like to know who will be responsible for this public waste. The traders also wish to know if a management company will be kept in place after the introduction of the bye-laws - as much of the smooth running of the market relies on this. 6 "TRADING HOURS Saturdays Only : 7a.m.-9.45.a.m. for set up Trading hours 10 a.m.-4.30 pm. Pack up 4.30 p.m. -6.30 p.m." We would like our trading times changed to: Saturdays Only : 7a.m.-9a.m. for set up Trading hours 9 a.m.-5.00 p.m. Pack up 5.00 p.m.- 6.30 p.m. 7 "UNAUTHORISED ADS/BANNERS Attaching commercial advertisements or unauthorised banners or material to a stall is prohibited. (New)" Some traders at TBFM would use their stall as a notice board for outside events, workshops and other food related activities, both for themselves and to support others in the food industry.