The Local authorities were responsible for the Mother and Baby 'homes'. They funded the institutions and failed to protect the women and children. The sites of these institutions, including their burial grounds, must be protected from redevelopment.

The long-awaited publication of the report of the Commission of Enquiry into Mother & Baby Homes has caused great distress to adopted people and survivors of Mother & Baby Homes for its failure to practically address the problems faced by adopted people and by birth mothers. Signing this petition is a practical act of solidarity with adopted people and survivors & presents an opportunity to do something practical to help them RIGHT NOW. #BirthCerts4AdopteesNOW

It's time that the Angelus was taken off RTÉ. It's time Ireland moved past it's dark past of Church and State being so intrinsically linked. We need to focus on bringing a new, inclusive and secular Ireland forward and it starts by separating Church and State on our public broadcaster.

The victims need access to the report in physical form for various reason including age and access to a computer. This should have been considered long before this as the victims now have to listen to all manner of commentators discuss their experiences without having access to the report.

The mother and baby homes report came out today. The highlights of this report are incredibly saddening. For a woman and child that was subjected to such cruelty under the hands of a religious order that they possibly looked up to is inhumane. The catholic church need to apologize and the catholic orders also for this horrible Irish history. The woman and children of these homes deserve that at least! Woman are not second class citizens. We have fought to be heard for many years and we continue to fight.

At the moment we are set to have vaccinated 135,000 people by the end of February 2021. This is simply not enough. If we want to beat this disease and get back to somewhat normality we need to rapidly increase the amount of the vaccine being administrated and to change the way that we are doing so. We need around the clock 24hr administration of the vaccine. We need to train up and utilise all of the volunteers that we can to roll-out this vaccine to everyone possible. We need to have an online system of registration including a list for cancellations to ensure that every single dose is used. We need to aggressively tackle this disease and get a better plan than the one that we have. Take a look at Israel, they have vaccinated 1.37million of their people. We need to make sure that we give everyone the opportunity to receive the vaccine should they want to in the quickest possible time. We also need to look at the priority group system and roll-out quicker to our most needed services

The Mobilise Peace campaign is reaching out to universities across Ireland, the UK and globally in a peaceful and escalating campaign calling for them to support, encourage and prepare their student, alumni and staff populations for national peaceful civil disobedience. Our global climate and ecological systems are in a state of severe crisis. Our economic system, which demands infinite growth on a planet of finite resources, is largely to blame for the above crises. Furthermore it inflicts untold suffering on defenceless others here, and around the world in numerous other ways. [1] There are many peaceful, positive practical, and powerful alternatives to our current system. These alternatives should be decided by a citizens' assembly. Governments worldwide have proven themselves to be either unwilling or dilatory to implement the changes needed. New climate models to be published in 2021 predict heating of +5C by the end of the century, translating to as much as +10C over land. [2] For perspective, 2-3 degrees of warming will result in 2 billion climate refugees by 2100. [3, 4] Through 2050 net zero targets, inordinately high per capita emissions, and raised border policies, our national and EU governments are taking a trajectory consistent with climate genocide of the Global South. There is a great injustice occurring and there is strong reason to believe that policies, laws and lawful recourse to changing them will not work. Peaceful civil disobedience may thus present the best option and possibly last hope we have of bringing about positive societal change. [5, 6] The fastest way to rapidly change a society is through non-violent civil disobedience. This has been demonstrated time and time again throughout history — the Suffragettes, the Civil Rights Movement, resistance to apartheid in South Africa and the fight for India's independence from British rule. [6] References: 1. Sachs et al., 2020, Letter from economists: to rebuild our world, we must end the carbon economy The Guardian 2. Voosen, P., 2019. New climate models predict a warming surge. Science, pp.Science, 04/17/2019. 3. Vince, G. 2019 The heat is on over the climate crisis. Only radical measures will work. The Guardian 4. Xu et al., 2020, Future of the human climate niche, PNAS, 117, 11350 5. Lemons, J. & Brown, D., 2011. Global climate change and non-violent civil disobedience. Ethics in Science and Environmental Politics, 111, pp.312. 6. Chenoweth, E., &; Stephan, M. 2011. Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict Columbia University Press. fb.me/mobilisepeace fb.me/scientistrebellion fb.me/systemchangeinternational

The HSE and SH:24 partnered to offer free STI home test kits as part of a pilot project, to find out how online services can help support people’s sexual health. These at-home STI tests were LGBT+ inclusive and were first made available to order online for residents of County Dublin, Cork and Kerry, however, as of January 6th - less than one day after the pilot launched, the service was shut due to the unprecedented high demand. The high number of sign-ups clearly illustrates the strong support for continuing and expanding this service nationwide. This scheme is particularly necessary at present as STI clinics are closed due to COVID-19, risking long waiting lists upon re-opening, and worsened health outcomes for those who could not access testing and treatment. At-home STI tests shift those with less complex sexual health needs from clinics to an online service thus reducing clinic waiting times, is safer during COVID-19, removes transportation barriers and encourages more people to get tested due to easier access. Free STI tests removes the financial barriers to testing services. Sign the petition to show your support for continuing & expanding this scheme!

Dear Minister As writers in receipt of payments from the Public Lending Remuneration scheme (PLR), which provides that writers receive a compensatory payment for each time their works are loaned from the public libraries, we consider that the present situation of remuneration needs to be improved. This is especially so in the present difficult situation of Covid19 restrictions in which physical book sales have collapsed. There are also the difficulties for writers (and other artists) with regard to book launches, readings and other events which now, under the restrictions, are not possible, thereby leading to a serious loss of income. The current PLR rate of €0.0412 per loan has not been increased since its introduction in 2008. EU legislation states “PLR must provide authors an adequate living and must not be merely symbolic”, yet collecting bodies consider the rate in Ireland “derisory”. This matter should be visited as a matter of urgency with the representatives of the writing community, such as the Irish Writers Union. We also believe that eBook loans should be included in the data for PLR, given the current COVID crisis and the resulting enormous surge in eBook loans compared to physical loans. How can fair remuneration under PRL be calculated for 2020 if eBook loans are excluded. There is also the anomaly vis a vis the UK, whereby although there is a bi-lateral arrangement enabling UK authors to benefit from Irish PLR, and Irish authors to avail of UK PLR, there is currently a disparity between how each country’s payments are calculated. This anomaly should be addressed as soon as possible in the interests of fairness. We hope you will give this matter your immediate attention.

The mental stress and burden faced by undocumented children, the fear of deportation and stigma associated with not being considered a citizen and the difficulties faced when accessing supports that other children take for granted, can be taken away by a minor change to an unkind and unjust amendment to our constitution that was introduced in 2004. The Irish Nationality and Citizenship (Naturalisation of Minors Born in Ireland) Bill would provide a pathway to citizenship for children who are currently facing deportation, despite having been born in Ireland and resident here all their lives. The 27th Amendment to the Constitution, which passed in 2004, removed the automatic right to citizenship upon birth. Once it was passed, children born in Ireland lost the constitutional right to citizenship on birth; the amendment gives the Oireachtas power to legislate for routes to citizenship and naturalisation instead. Following the referendum, the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 2004 was passed which effectively removed any accessible route to citizenship for children born in Ireland. As a result, Irish citizenship law is now based on blood ties, not birthright. We do not need another referendum to reverse this. The 2004 amendment gave the Oireachtas the power to legislate for more generous pathways to citizenship. The Irish Nationality and Citizenship (Naturalisation of Minors Born in Ireland) Bill 2018 would provide a pathway to citizenship for children born in Ireland. It was passed through Second Stage by a majority of Senators on 21 November 2018; Senators from Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin and the Green Party supported it, although Fine Gael opposed it. The Bill is being brought back before the Seanad for ‘Committee Stage’ on Wednesday 2nd of December next. Please contact your local Senator and TD's to say that you believe that Children born here should belong here.

Under the Domestic Violence Act 2018, there are three different orders that victims of abuse can apply at the District Court. These are; Barring Orders, Safety Orders, and Temporary Protection Orders. In many cases, the perpetrator must be notified of an order against them - either orally by the applicant or Gardaí, or they will be notified of the order by post. An order does not take effect until it is served to the respondent. In the case of a protection order, or an interim barring order, the court usually directs that order to be served on the respondent by An Garda Síochána. . The Orders that cause the most issue are Barring or Safety orders as these have both the victims and the abusers addresses on them.

We need your help urgently to stop illegal evictions in Sheikh Jarrah. Please help Mohammad Sabbagh and other residents to keep their home in East Jerusalem. Mohammad is just one Sheikh Jarrah resident who faces becoming a refugee for the second time. Mohammad and his family were originally made refugees in 1948 during what Palestinians call the 'Nakba', meaning catastrophe, which saw between 750,000 and 1,000,000 Palestinians driven from their land in what Israel calls its War of Independence. The Sabbagh family fled from Jaffa and were awarded a home in then Jordanian controlled East Jerusalem in 1956 when the UN built 26 houses for 30 Palestinian families who had fled from Jaffa, Haifa and West Jerusalem. In 1967 Israel illegally annexed East Jerusalem and has since made every effort to remove the Palestinian population and cut the city off from the rest of the West Bank. Mohammad is now in his 70's and faces becoming a refugee for the second time in his life. Since 2008 he and his family have been battling a settler group in court over ownership of their property. The Israeli courts have unsurprisingly ruled in favour of the illegal settlers, and 45 members of the family are now facing forced eviction from their homes. In the last week Mohammad was issued with an eviction notice to vacate his home before November 24th. His lawyer has lodged a successful appeal which has moved the case to a higher court. But the threat of eviction remains high for Mohammad and other residents of Sheikh Jarrah. Why Sheikh Jarrah? Sheikh Jarrah has come under mounting pressure from the Israeli government in recent years. The East Jerusalem neighbourhood is a key target for settler activity due to its location. Sheikh Jarrah is located in close proximity to the Green Line (1949 Armistice Line). Sheikh Jarrah has been at the forefront of Israeli efforts to ethnically cleanse Palestinians from Jerusalem. What does international law say? According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs the 1967 occupation and annexation of East Jerusalem is not recognized by the international community, “with the UN Security Council repeatedly declaring all legislative measures and actions taken by Israel to alter the character and status of Jerusalem to be null and void.” Furthermore This eviction amounts to forcible transfer, which is in direct contravention of the fourth Geneva Convention. Article 49, first paragraph, of the Fourth Geneva Convention states: “Individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory to the territory of the Occupying Power or to that of any other country, occupied or not, are prohibited, regardless of their motive.” Take action We therefore demand Minister of Foreign Affairs, Simon Coveney take urgent action on this matter and call for an immediate halt to the forced displacement of Mohammad Sabbagh, his family, and community. Please take a moment to sign and share this petition. Further reading https://www.ochaopt.org/content/imminent-eviction-palestinian-family-east-jerusalem https://eyewitnessblogs.com/2020/05/29/you-know-we-like-life-and-we-have-a-right-to-live-it-evictions-and-resistance-in-sheikh-jarrah/ https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/1/15/israel-evicting-palestinian-family-to-replace-them-with-settlers