Cycling offers a wide range of benefits to our society including reducing carbon emissions, relieving congestion, improving health and making our towns safer, more pleasant places to live and move about. Unfortunately, the resources allocated to cycling at present are nowhere near sufficient to make it a safe and normal activity for people of all ages and abilities. Therefore, we are calling on Minister Ross to: 1.) Allocate at least 10% of the Transport Budget to cycling. 2.) Implement the National Cycle Policy Framework in full. 3.) Take action to reduce transport emissions so that Ireland fulfils its obligations under the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

The Johnstown estate is the biggest estate in Navan with nearly 3000 houses and 10,000 people and still growing. In actual fact it is bigger than most of the small towns like Kells and Dunshaughlin surrounding it. But bigger is not always better when it comes to facilities. Johnstown is the forgotten estate when it comes to facilities in Co Meath for its young and ever growing population. Most of the smaller towns and other estates in Navan around us have much better facilities, with a state of the art Community Centre's in the likes of Dunshaughlin. For the Council to build a Community Centre from scratch in Johnstown, it would firstly take far to long for its long suffering population but would also cost to much. It makes much better financial sense for the Council to purchase the former Energy Gym for the benefit of everyone living in the community. This is only a once in a lifetime chance to turn a near derelict building and an eye sore based in the centre of the community into a badly needed Community Centre which all the residents of Johnstown can be proud of. We would ask that all Meath County Councillors from all parties and none would support this petition and urge the Council to act urgently to secure the Centre for the benefit of their constituents.

Parking, adequate lighting and traffic congestion issues have been a problem on Clash road, Tralee and areas leading of it for many years. Clash road is used by staff and students and provides access to IT Tralee, South Campus, Kerry ETB, Clash industrial estate and other areas on a daily basis. As parking is extremely limited in the Clash area, the KCC's solution since September 16' has been to fine all cars parked illegally rather than tackle the issue of a lack of parking in the area. A workable solution must be found for the students, staff and people who work and use Clash road on a daily basis.

In planning since 2012, the Clontarf to City Centre Cycle Route was supposed to provide a fully segregated two-way cycle path between the existing coastal path at Clontarf and the city centre, via Fairview and North Strand. But instead the council has opted for a non-continuous cycle route which mixes cycling with buses, heavy traffic and pedestrians. The solution is to return to a design with a continuous two-way cycle path on the east side of the road along the route. This is the safest, most space efficient, and most attractive option for most people who cycle now and those who will cycle when conditions are improved. Here's the reasoning for a two-way cycle path: (1) Cycling for all ages and abilities Mixing cycling with buses and other motorists on a busy route does not fit with the idea of cycling for “all ages and abilities”: The route must be fully segregated. The City Development Plan states: “With regard to the city centre, in particular, ease of access to persons of all ages and abilities is a significant indicator as to how inclusive Dublin is as a city,” and the National Cycle Policy states: “The bicycle will be the transport mode of choice for all ages” -- we need to stop these from becoming hollow words. (2) Arguments against it don’t make sense The council and their consultants have outlined a number of “issues” as to why the two-way path should not be chosen -- from safety of “cyclists taking chances” crossing away from official crossings to the idea that commuters won’t use the route. These, however, don’t make sense. Similar routes recently built in London prove that the “issues” can be fixed by good design. The council’s arguments on safety are nonsensical -- they rate having a two-way cycle path across the entrances to low-volume side streets as more dangerous than their plan of mixing cyclists with buses at bus stops and with trucks and heavy traffic turning from one major road to another. (3) Connection to the S2S North Even if other connections can be made between the Docklands and the coastal section S2S Dublin Bay route on the northside, the Clontarf to City Centre Cycle Route will be the most direct link between the coastal route and the city centre. It is of the utmost importance that a segregated route is provided to allow people to cycle from the costal section to the city centre and vice versa. (4) Connection to the Liffey Cycle Route and southside The council’s plan is to end the Clontarf to City Centre Cycle Route outside Connolly Station -- this means people cycling to/from the southside and planned Liffey Cycle Route will have to brave the many lanes of traffic around the Customs House and Busáras. A fully segregated two-way path could easily be extended between Connolly Station and the quays, allowing for a safe and attractive connection. Please sign and share A two-way cycle path is the option which will get the best outcomes for safety, transport, health, climate change, and tourism -- please sign and share.

The collective known as Home Sweet Home (‘HSH’) has written to the Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan, and called on him to take urgent action to tackle the homelessness crisis in the State. He needs to direct NAMA to use its property portfolio to take immediate and effective action to assist the homeless. We are asking members of the public to support HSH’s initiative by signing up to the letter on-line. The government must take action now. In summary, the letter states: 1. The building known as Apollo House, in Dublin city centre, has been occupied by HSH as a last resort to provide safe and secure accommodation for people sleeping rough on the streets. 2. The receivers acting for NAMA obtained a court injunction to force all the occupants of Apollo House to vacate it by noon on 11th January 2017. 3. Whilst the receivers contend that there are enough adequate beds for rough sleepers in Dublin, Fr. Peter McVerry states otherwise on affidavit, and the most recent government statistics (released on 30th December 2016) confirm that homelessness is increasing. 4. Under section 14 of the NAMA Act, the Minister for Finance is empowered to direct NAMA to make properties under its control available “to contribute to the social and economic development of the State”.  Ireland has obligations under European and international law to provide social housing and to work towards the elimination of homelessness. 5. NAMA has ample housing stock currently under its control which can be made available, through various mechanisms, to individuals and families who are currently homeless or under threat of being made homeless. 6. NAMA is planning to build 20,000 homes in the next three years but only 10% of these will be made available for social housing despite the worst housing crisis in the history of the State. NAMA is focused on returning a profit to the exchequer at some point in the future as a priority above tacking the homelessness crisis. 7. The Minister for Finance must act now to compel NAMA to take immediate and effective steps to combat the homelessness crisis. Please support Home Sweet Home’s initiative to force the government to end homelessness in Ireland by signing this letter. You can read the full letter here: http://tinyurl.com/h7zdsvl

I have seen the publication “How to save Moore Street – Campaign Proposal”. I fully endorse this proposal and I call on you to use whatever power you have at to make sure that this proposal or a similar proposal is implemented for the Moore Street Battlefield Site. I am deeply concerned by how the government and some opposition politicians' have acted in relation to the Moore Street area. This is an election issue for me. With an appeal brought by the Government, which if successful will lead to the destruction of what the National Museum called Ireland’s most historical site, how can I not be worried? Not only is this site of major historical importance and a site where our nation was born but it is also a location which could bring major economic and tourism benefits to the State. I will not benefit from another shopping centre, Ireland will not benefit from another shopping centre, but we would benefit from a Historical Cultural Quarter. That said I hope you respect Irish history, culture, the people who died so you could be elected and you respect Irish tourism and the economy by working towards building a Historical Cultural Quarter in this area as best you can. You should also respect the High Court judgement and ensure the appeal by the State is withdrawn in order to save the site.I am proud of Irish culture. We have some of the best musicians, painters, poets, writers and actors in the world. For such a small nation which was born from actions within Moore Street our cultural influence is remarkable. I believe we do not promote our own culture enough. I feel designating Moore Street as a Historical and Cultural Quarter where families can learn and be educated about our culture, whether it’s through history, poetry, writing or song is a necessity for Dublin. A Historical and Cultural Quarter for the thinking visitor.

This bill will facilitate evictions, increase the power of landlords to evict tenants, & allow developers to build without any real regulation or consultation. What the Bill will do: - Give landlords the right to evict tenants if they feel they could charge more to new tenants. - Allow landlords to evict households who have been in their home and community for over 4 years with no extended notice. - Increase homelessness and put almost 25% of the population under constant threat of eviction. - Allow An Bord Pleanála to privately develop plans with private developers without public consultation. This will lead to unsuitable, untenable and unfinished housing developments nationwide. - Allow for developers to be compensated by up to €10,000 if their planning applications are delayed - an obscene waste of public money. We are in the grips of the worst housing crisis Ireland has seen in a century. However, there are 5,000 empty homes across South Dublin alone. This bill does nothing to tackle the problem of vacant properties, which affects every part of the country. This Bill directly steals from the pockets of a public struggling to keep their homes, to give to private developers and landlords. . This Bill is an obscene affront to the most basic right to a home, and is an insult to the thousands of families and individuals homeless and living on the streets and in cramped hotel rooms nationwide.

The proposed College Green Plaza will be an iconic civic space in the heart of Dublin - Ireland's capital. It has the potential to rival other great urban spaces like Dam Square in Amsterdam or Trafalgar Square in London. However to achieve this the expansion of the proposed extent of the College Green Plaza to the steps of the former Parliament building (now Bank of Ireland) is of paramount significance. Given that the tax paying citizens of the State funded the Bank Bailout, and Bank of Ireland is essentially now State owned this petition calls on that Bank to allow the expansion of College Green Plaza by removing Parking in the forecourt area as a gesture of goodwill towards the people of Ireland and its capital city. A recent public consultation on the proposed plaza at College Green heard that the railings at Bank of Ireland were private and would stay, while trees would be removed. It is therefore clear that retention of railings is to facilitate parking in the forecourt of the Bank. This is not in keeping with a pedestrian plaza and or the opening of a new cultural visitor centre at College Green in 2017 which will greatly enhance the amenity value of the College Green complex. While the present railings do have historic value they should not be used to curtail the extent of the plaza. With careful planning and your input College Green can become a focal point for our nation in the heart of our capital city and once again play host to historic public gatherings from the visit of President Obama in 2011 to rallies and marches in support of issues that matter to all of us. Please sign & share and have your say !

OUR AIM: To reaffirm the commitment of Dublin City Council to Gaelscoil Cholmcille for the additional land for the provision a two stream permanent school with necessary amenity space. Specifically, we wish support for the following: 1. To confirm the allocation of additional land from Dublin City Council, as originally promised in front of the existing temporary school . Presently 83% of our pupils live within 2 miles of the Gaelscoil, and countless local children are turned away every year due to lack of places. The proposed development of Laurence’s Land could require over 1,000 additional school places in the next 2-5 years 2. To seek formal approval from DCC for a Design Layout Change in the Housing Land Initiative Feasibility Study Dec 2015 3. We wish to seek assurance from DCC that all traffic from the development uses only the entrances further west of the Gaelscoil area, for the security of our children. 4. We wish for our Permanent School Development to run concurrently with the proposed Laurence’s land development. It is imperative that the whole community support our petition.

Our local businesses, environment and democracy are under threat from a trade deal currently being negotiated between the EU Commission and the USA. The deal is called TTIP and could outlaw local authorities’ support of local businesses, allow multinational corporations to sue us if councils deny fracking permits and open up services like water, health and education to privatisation. What’s up for grabs are the rules and regulations that force corporations to abide by standards that protect our health, our rights, our jobs, services and the environment. These regulations for example stop corporations releasing chemicals and products into the market before they are proven to be safe. They also make sure workers get their rights and that local communities are protected from environmental disasters. But if TTIP goes ahead corporations will get to have a say on policies that govern our daily lives - before we or even politicians get to see them. And if they don’t like the rules they will be able to sue governments when they make changes or bring in new policies that could potentially affect their profits. Right now in Canada a fracking company Lone Pine Resources Inc., is suing the government for its decision to not allow fracking in Quebec. They are able to do this because of an ISDS clause in another trade deal. In Egypt the government was sued by water company Veolia for attempting to bring in a minimum wage. Germany is being sued by Swedish energy company Vatenfall for €4.7 billion because of Germany's decision to phase out nuclear power. TTIP also removes barriers to US companies who want to sell their products in Europe. Right now the sale of US beef in Europe is very limited. Hormone injected beef is banned outright. Hundreds of councils across Europe have already said they don’t want TTIP. Because of people power politicians are waking up to the threat TTIP poses and to the fact that people aren’t going to stand aside and let our democracy and rights be sold off. In addition to that a similar Trade agreement named CETA if the TTPIP fails will deliver a similar agreement between the EU and Canada, with similar legal provisions thus providing a backdoor for the same restrictive legal provisions to be implemented: CETA summary: http://www.ase.tufts.edu/gdae/Pubs/wp/16-03CETA_ES.pdf

Ireland's 1993 Commission on the Rights of People with Disabilities made a statement that sadly still rings true today: "People with disabilities are the neglected citizens of Ireland... [but] they want, and are entitled to, equality and full participation as citizens." In 2016 we’re still waiting to see full equality on our public transport systems. This is especially true of DART services, which are riddled with accessibility problems. But it's time for us to say enough is enough. The Disability Federation of Ireland estimates that there are over 160,000 people with a disability in the Dublin area. On top of having to cope with various medical conditions, that's 160,000 potential DART-users relying on - lifts that are often out of order - platform ramps onto the train that don't work or don't exist - live travel information that is inaccurate or inaccessible - trained station assistants who aren't available in all stations Each of these factors makes even the most basic journeys a headache to organise, and sometimes impossible! But all of these issues could be easily fixed if the government made them a priority. Let's raise our voice for disability rights now. Call on the government to fix these issues and make DART services fully accessible for people with a disability. Disability Rights Now is a People Before Profit campaign chaired by Richard Boyd Barrett and based on the feedback of local disability rights activists in the Dun Laoghaire area.

We all have a right to adequate access to drinking water. The UN has told the Irish state that according to international human rights law, all levels of government are under an obligation to provide urgent measures, including financial assistance, to ensure access to affordable housing, and essential levels of drinking water and sanitation services.