It has been known, since at least as far back as 1998, to Cork County Council, and their successor organisations responsible for Water Services, Irish Water, and Uisce Éireann, that untreated sewage has been escaping from a failed sewage treatment system into a public park in the village of Shannonvale, Clonakilty, County Cork. This area, which serves as the village's sole public recreation space, is situated on the north bank of the River Argideen, upstream from the point where Uisce Éireann extracts drinking water for the entire Clonakilty municipal water supply. Despite the evident threats to public health, this issue has persisted for over 25 years, since it was first reported to Cork County Council.

The Columban Way is a rural community driven project focused on connecting communities using low impact walking tourism to provide socio-economic opportunities where large ticket tourism offerings are scarce on the ground. The project is staffed through 100% volunteering with support from Carlow County Council, Carlow Tourism and Failte Ireland. With your support we will be able to continue our work towards Bangor, Co. Down and through Europe to Bobbio, Italy.

The shore of Belfast Lough is special - lovely walks at low tide, seals, birds, the beach. It's a perfect place for people to enjoy, and to improve their physical and mental health, and appreciate our natural environment. Yet it's closed off. Access denied! NIWater and MEABC have the power to change that. So simply open the gate, and #ShareTheShore!

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…

Rural Ireland needs balanced afforestation that protects communities, farmers and biodiversity. Large scale corporate owned plantations will accelerate the destruction of livable communities and nature.

There is nothing more important to us as a nation than to care for, nurture, protect and preserve the health and well-being of our children and grandchildren. A very close second is the need to protect and preserve our natural environment for those generations that follow us, who will depend upon it. A recent submission to the Citizens Assembly examining Bio-Diversity Loss in Ireland confirmed that our natural freshwaters are being deliberately, unlawfully polluted by 5000 defective (leaking) slurry/effluent storage tanks that were built on NI farms, thousands of which were built in the border counties of Derry, Tyrone, Fermanagh and Armagh. * Updated to: https://citizensassembly.ie/wp-content/uploads/396_Redacted.pdf The toxic contents leaking from those defective tanks pollute/poison local streams rivers and lakes that flow across the 310mile border and pollute/poison the freshwaters in the border counties of Donegal, Leitrim, Cavan, Monaghan, Louth and the counties beyond them, killing the marine life and flora and fauna that exist in those freshwaters and causing/contributing to the pollution recorded by the EPA in their reports. RTE reported the EPA Studies that confirm the levels of pollution in our natural freshwaters. https://www.rte.ie/news/environment/2022/1014/1329164-epa-water-quality/ https://www.rte.ie/news/2022/1020/1330259-epa-sewage-report/ Those streams, rivers and lakes are the source of the water that we all use/drink every day. Think of this when you pour your next cup of tea/coffee or hand your child a glass of tap-water to drink. *Update: On 26-01-23 the European Commission referred Ireland to the European Court over its failures to protect its freshwaters from pollution and maintain acceptable standards of drinking water.* Please sign this petition and forward it to your elected representative and please also share it with your friends and family and ask them to do the same.

The traffic issues around our school with HGV usage have been exacerbated by Brexit and now pose life-threatening risks to the children of Kilrane National School everyday and to the residents of the Kilrane area. In summary; Kilrane has been subjected to years of bad planning practices, Brexit has now made these HGV traffic issues around our school far far worse. The safety issues around our national school are now at a life-threatening stage since the implementation of Brexit. And it is our fear that it is only a matter of time before someone is seriously injured at the school. The long-term future of Kilrane and Rosslare Harbour as a livable residential areas is in danger, as well as the future of our very valuable tourist industry which is based around the affected area. We wish for the businesses involved to stay in the Kilrane/Rosslare Harbour area as we have no issue with the businesses involved, just with their current proposed locations. So we call on Wexford County Council to honour their promises to solve our traffic issues and to honour their statutory obligations to the residents, especially our children, and reject the planning permission application for a new haulage depot in Kilrane Business Park. The granting of such would be catastrophic for our children. Our detailed objection letter will be ready shortly and we will make it public. Please sign this petition by the 2nd of November 2022.

Many people rely on these public buses to get access to services, family and work. We should be protecting all bus routes to promote more sustainable and affordable means of travel. Don't cut rural Waterford off from public bus services. https://waterford-news.ie/2022/09/12/suirway-to-cease-public-transport-services-after-123-years/

Ireland has repeatedly missed its greenhouse gas emissions targets and, with the transport sector accounting for 20% of the nation's CO2 emissions, switching to electric vehicles represents a great opportunity to cut emissions quickly. This also has the benefit of reducing air pollution, which will benefit public health, while the cheaper running costs will help many who are already struggling due to the Cost of Living Crisis. At present, incentives are only available for brand new electric cars - which makes them unaffordable for the majority of people. This is also delaying an affordable second-hand EV market, which needs to be prioritised if the majority of people are to be able to make the switch. A key mantra for tackling the Climate Crisis is doing more with less. Converting petrol, diesel and hybrid cars to run as full EVs is a great example of this – as it takes cars that run perfectly well, but which have high and harmful emissions, and delivers all the benefits of electric cars – such as lower running costs and no air pollution – at an affordable price. We have previously seen the Irish Government offer scrappage schemes for cars – but this has come at the cost of a lot of metal, plastic and oil waste. By funding EV conversions instead of supporting scrappage schemes, the Government can not only avoid unnecessary waste, but also help to keep natural resources in the ground by effectively recycling the cars that we already have. The French Government has made EV conversions available for a price of just €5,000, which is a much more realistic entry point for most people in Ireland. Especially during a cost of living crisis

AIB is moving 70 of their branches to cashless banking. [1] Not only will going cashless mean no notes, coins, cheques, foreign exchange, bank drafts - it will remove any drop safes, night safes and ATMs outside. This is going to cause huge hardship for many people - especially older and vulnerable people, local businesses, people who don’t have access to the internet. The greed and recklessness of banks, including AIB bosses, played a crucial role in bringing about the financial crash. [2] Homes were repossessed by banks, families lost their incomes, young and not-so-young people were forced to emigrate, businesses had to close. We cannot stand by while our majority state-owned bank hurts our communities again. [1] https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2022/0719/1311026-aib-to-turn-70-branches-cashless-expand-an-post-deal/ [2] https://pai.ie/bank-bailout-costs-state-nearly-e42-billion/ https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-32516942

AIB is moving 70 of their branches to cashless banking. [1] Not only will going cashless mean no notes, coins, cheques, foreign exchange, bank drafts - it will remove any drop safes, night safes and ATMs outside. This is going to cause huge hardship for many people - especially older and vulnerable people, local businesses, people who don’t have access to the internet. The greed and recklessness of banks, including AIB bosses, played a crucial role in bringing about the financial crash. [2] Homes were repossessed by banks, families lost their incomes, young and not-so-young people were forced to emigrate, businesses had to close. We cannot stand by while our majority state-owned bank hurts our communities again. [1] https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2022/0719/1311026-aib-to-turn-70-branches-cashless-expand-an-post-deal/ [2] https://pai.ie/bank-bailout-costs-state-nearly-e42-billion/ https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-32516942

Going cashless would gravely impact our community as a whole. There are a great deal of people that hugely rely on the cash services daily. There are many people who would negatively impact from going cashless including elderly people & people who cannot travel to other banks elsewhere. I would also affect people who are not tech savy. We do not want a cashless society