Thousands of people are being forced into factory-like accomodation with camp beds in halls, insecure hostels and cramped institutions, while some are even pitching tents or sleeping on the streets. Meanwhile thousands of homes lie empty across the Island - some have been built by toxic vulture funds and are owned by banks and businesses waiting on the prices to rise to turn a quick buck. Others are lying in disrepair with little intention to be used again. Many Airbnb’s and tourist lets are used only for a few weeks of the year.

Unregulated private consultants or 'experts' are routinely used in the Family Law Courts to determine if children should be forced to be 'reconciled' with a parent (usually a father) without any consideration of the children's wishes or reports of evidence of abuse and violence in the home. Because of the 'in camera' rule there is no exposure of this widespread practice, no data, no oversight or accountability and if women and children speak about what is happening they can be criminalised for breaking the 'in camera' rule. Very recently a woman's young children were taken without warning from their school in the company of Gardai. They were removed from the care of their mother and the only home they have ever known and forced to live in their father’s house. They are not allowed to see or speak to their mother. The children have told their teachers, doctor and the social workers what they want and why but the court won’t listen and says they can’t have a voice - on the recommendation of a so called unregulated 'family expert witness'. The 2015 Child and Family Relationship Act says that all children have a right to be heard in matters concerning their lives and should be involved in decisions made about them. The children’s father has continued to exert power and control through post-separation abuse. The greatest way to hurt her is by taking the children away from her, aided by unregulated experts in the family law courts who are silencing victims of domestic violence and their children. We hear from many mothers who are victims of domestic and sexual violence, that in the family courts, when it comes to guardianship, custody and access hearings, domestic abuse survivors are not being heard or prioritised. Many of the reports are very similar to the story outlined above. The reasons offered for these forced separation/reconciliation decisions by 'family court experts' are unreliable. Their arguments draw on concepts that are unscientific and discredited ie. parental alienation. To stop this 'in plain sight' abuse of children and women who are survivors of violence - scrutiny of the decisions being made in Family Law Courts is urgently needed. Unregulated experts have to be investigated and their decisions published and reviewed. Mandatory training and education, accreditation and accountability for all professionals is desperately needed for all professionals working in the Family Courts. There must be independent monitoring and oversight. Children should have the right to live free from fear. Our children should never be subjected to forced removal from their home and family and silenced by so called unregulated 'experts'. Children’s views, voice and wishes, their feelings and human rights should be paramount in all decisions by the court regarding contact arrangements.

Around 100 residents in the Shannon Arms on Henry Street are currently facing mass evictions from several landlords, most notably, Supermacs owner and multimillionaire, Mr. Pat McDonagh. Some of the other landlords have a history of mass evictions from the properties they control. Tenants have come together as part of CATU Ireland (www.catuireland.org) to resist these evictions. Some evictions have already occurred at the Shannon Arms complex, with further evictions taking place at the end of May - let's show Pat McDonagh that the public support the tenants by signing this petition! Though these evictions have been raised in the Dáil, and with other relevant bodies including the local council, there has been no tangible intervention to help the tenants, some of whom are young families and people with disabilities. The looming threat of these evictions have deeply damaged both the mental and physical health of a number of tenants, which has led to some residents being hospitalised. Due to the extremity of the housing crisis, and the lack of housing available within the city, there are scant options available for the tenants if they are to be evicted at the end of the month. We are calling on Pat McDonagh, and the other landlords who oversee the buildings to revoke these eviction notices and let the Shannon Arms residents remain in their homes.

New Look staff in Strabane, some with over twenty years service, are being forced into redundancy by a senseless Lidl relocation from Bradley Way to Strabane Retail Park. It will bring ten new jobs but will cost up to sixty job losses. Strabane is an area of high social and economic deprivation and these potential job losses will be a disaster for a town with historically high unemployment. Four retail units will close to facilitate this Lidl development and relocation (New Look, Menarys, Peacocks, Argos). Strabane Workers Together are highlighting this redundancy injustice and are calling on all four aforementioned employers to relocate within Strabane.

Ukraine's national debt is €120 billion, that's almost 80% of their GDP. They are spending €6bn a year just servicing this debt, and have had years of austerity measures pushed as a result. This is illegitimate debt, built up due to the oligarchisation of society, the failure to tax the rich and currently increasing rapidly due to the brutal Russian invasion. Now a growing international movement is demanding this debt be cancelled. Given our own history, Irish people should be at the forefront in demanding the the cancellation of this odious debt.

It’s very important to ensure that such crimes on humanity & sites deemed to be crime scenes is properly investigated and while such is dragged out by the Irish government, the least we can do is protect & preserve the whole of the land respectfully until it’s investigated in the manner it legally should be.

We in the Irish Heart Foundation are calling on the Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe to remove VAT on AEDs (Automated External Defibrillators). An AED (Automated External Defibrillator) increases a person’s chances of surviving cardiac arrest. An AED is a portable, simple to use, computerised device. When someone suffers a cardiac arrest, an AED delivers a shock to the heart to allow it to resume its normal rhythm. Right now, AEDs and replacement pads and batteries are subject to VAT at 23% in Ireland. Recent changes in EU legislation mean that the Government will have the power this year to abolish this VAT on AEDs, a tax which we in the Irish Heart Foundation have condemned for years as “a tax on saving lives”. Every year, thousands of people in Ireland die from cardiac arrest. 80% of these occur at home and in local communities. The more AEDs there are available in local communities and accessible to the public , the more lives can be saved. Charging VAT on these devices, along with replacement pads and batteries, makes it harder for sports and community organisations to afford their purchase and upkeep. The Irish Heart Foundation hopes that Minister Donohoe and the Department of Finance will act on this petition and undertake all work necessary to ensure an exemption of VAT on AEDs is introduced at the earliest date possible in 2022.

"11 million Ukrainians wander, they have had to abandon their homes, take their children under their arms and flee? How else can one treat the mass rapes, the mass murders, the bombing of maternity hospitals"... In view of the unprovoked aggression by the Russian government in attacking Ukraine and killing thousands of its citizens call on the Irish government to reduce the number of Russians based in the Russian Embassy in Dublin without delay. 29/03/2022 - Today the Irish government asked 4 Russian diplomats to leave Ireland. Of the 31 Russian diplomats based in its Orwell Road embassy 27 remain. Ireland has 5 diplomats in Moscow. Today the Netherlands and Belgium announced they were expelling 17 and 21 Russian diplomats respectively for engaging in espionage. The Irish government need to expel more Russian diplomats or justify why they are not. Add your name to this petition to encourage the government to take this action. Also please ask your friends to sign the petition. https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/four-senior-russian-diplomats-expelled-from-state-following-security-advice-1.4839308?mode=sample&auth-failed=1&pw-origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.irishtimes.com%2Fnews%2Fpolitics%2Ffour-senior-russian-diplomats-expelled-from-state-following-security-advice-1.4839308 https://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/garda-expands-security-operation-around-russian-embassy-in-dublin-1.4829674

In 2019 all references to 'Human Rights' were removed from CORU’s Code of Professional Conduct & Ethics for Social Work, the legally binding document which governs Social Work practice in Ireland, and which Social Workers must adhere to. No explanation has been provided by CORU for the removal of human rights from the code. CORU’s previous 2011 Social Work Code contained six separate references to ‘Human Rights’, recognising its fundamental nature to the Social Work profession. The foreword to the 2011 Code noted: “Social Work is a profession based on principles of Human-Rights and Social Justice”. In 2021 the membership of the Irish Association of Social Workers (IASW) voted overwhelmingly in favour of initiating a campaign to have the term Human Rights reinstated to the Code. This petition forms part of that campaign, please support us. Advocating and upholding Human Rights and social justice is a core Social Work value. The International Federation of Social Workers’ (IFSW) 2014 Global Definition of Social Work states: "Principles of social justice, human rights, collective responsibility and respect for diversities are central to Social Work". The IFSW’s definition is a beacon to Social Work practitioners across the world, many of whom tenaciously hold onto the values embodied in this definition. This definition has been adopted globally, including by the IASW, and has been translated into 28 languages. Human Rights feature centrally in the Codes of Ethics of Social Work organisations in countries across the world, including England, Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand, Canada, Finland, Japan, and South Korea. The Australian Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics refers to Human Rights thirteen times. Similarly, the British Association of Social Work (BASW) Code of Ethics for Social Work features Human Rights a total of twelve times in its 15-pages. Removing the phrase ‘Human Rights’ from the Code effectively alters the narrative and meaning of Social Work, and has implications for how we, as Social Workers, both individually and collectively, understand, frame and practice our profession. It is imperative that Human Rights is included within CORU’s Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics for Social Work in Ireland. We call on CORU to reinstate all references to ‘Human Rights’ from the 2011 Code to the current Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics for Social Work. For more information: https://twitter.com/SWs4Change

Asylum policy is a reserved matter decided by Westminster that lies outwith the Northern Ireland devolved government. Westminster's response to the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Ukraine has been shameful. We the undersigned from Northern Ireland call on Boris Johnson to put in place a visa waiver scheme for Ukrainian people seeking shelter from the war and on the Northern Ireland Executive to put in place a scheme to facilitate the resettlement of refugees in Northern Ireland.

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Doug Beattie, the UUP Leader, said in January that "Northern Ireland has been blighted by division.. and yet we don't take the brave steps to try and deal with that division...we need to end educational apartheid which is taking place here in Northern Ireland." But his party is opposed to the Bill and may join the DUP in using this undemocratic Assembly mechanism to block the Bill. Doug and his party need to rule out using a Petition of Concern to block the Bill.