I'd like to become a 'new' registered State Marriage Officer. Voluntarily I'm involved in a 'regenerate Tipp town' effort. If people wanted low fuss/cost weddings (once three months notice etc. followed) for a bit of local tourism I'd pick them up at Limerick Junction (the Railways crossroads of Ireland) whisk them to our deconsecrated Famine workhouse chapel/Glen of Aherlow/Rock of Cashel/Swiss cottage for a service. Right now I am 'barred' from becoming a Solemnizer. More importantly - we may have voted for marriage equality - but the practicalities (which sends many tourist dollars abroad) of booking a solemnizer/officer is quite different. Many go for a church wedding now - not as their first choice - but because it's extremely difficult to find a solemnizer otherwise. Here's a breakdown - online / HSE you'll see current list of approx. 5000 'approved' solemnizers. 76% of those were put on the list by virtue of being R. Catholic church priests (all men). There are say another 20% as 'religious - many some form of Christian , Jews, Muslims, Protestants and minority religions things like Celtic mystics, druids, witches etc all included. That leaves say 4% deemed 'non religious'/secular. For those who want a cold impersonal Registry office wedding during office hours only - not with friends at the weekend 3% of that 4% is HSE/civil servants for office hours/town hall weddings (which suit some - but others go midweek to get the paperwork only and get another celebrant/not on Solemnizer list for their weekend do with their friends - they do it not by choice that way). Of course we do 'hunt' some abroad with all this 'BS'. So now - below 1% - we are at what the State reckons will do you even if supply not meeting demand. Our 1% can only apply 'via' the Spiritualists or the Humanists. Both are philosophies/isms even if not religions. You can 'play along' and pretend you're a Spiritualist or a Humanist for the day - even though you might be against what they stand for. But that's it. You want non religious? OK - there's Registry office for you midweek if you don't want a wait. Don't like those? Contact the Humanists or Spiritualists. You don't really 'follow' their thing and don't like Registry idea. It's the big bad aeroplane for you. You don't want to answer a question about religion? Cultural catholic not a regular massgoer? Well lots of priests would prefer you'd go elsewhere (pity they have 3/4 of the 'supply' side cornered. Let's see - you're a committed aethiest/agnostic/deist/no ism - don't want registry office - did you try Vegas? You're gay - well we know straight off 3/4 of them won't touch you even if you're a committed Catholic. That's why licences shouldn't be given via bodies/religions. You don't join the Humanists just so you can apply to join the Gardai - via the Humanists. The approved body approach is not fit for purpose/beyond patching up. A new system where any individual can apply. Gender quota'ed. I'd have national supply limits / usage monitoring, supply matched to preference demand whether by religion etc. Have some training and monitoring these new State Marriage Officials. Transition period where current Solemnizers can get onto new list. If say a priest doesnt want to reapply to the new system they continue doing church weddings - but - a reg. official maybe does the State's business in Church Registry etc. In other countries it is a simple State function - uncoupled from religions - they are not 'approving bodies' etc. We gave equal marriage to some of our citzens which they didn't have before. Now it's time for this bit of housekeeping to bring us into the 21st century.

In recent years our town and its surrounding areas have expanded greatly due to increased housing development, while this is welcomed we also need a significant update of Garda presence. This is something that we as a community feel should be built on alongside our development and instead it has gone the opposite direction. we hope that with this petition, we can increase the presence of Garda in our area and reduce the anti-social behaviour. We also would like to see our station be opened more often for tasks such as forms being completed etc.

Philomena The co-founder of Midwives for Choice and its main driver, and a passionate advocate and campaigner for Repeal, Philomena is a midwife of long experience and a truly remarkable woman - quite definitely 'one of a kind'. Diagnosed with ovarian cancer some time ago, very sadly the cancer has returned and she has been given a terminal diagnosis - I believe the diagnosis is of a matter of weeks. In 2014 she was suspended from her post as a midwife by the HSE on foot of an alleged incident. Philomena was completely exonerated by several separate reports on the matter, all of which concluded that her midwifery practice was 'exemplary'. She was reinstated by the HSE but could not resume her post. The HSE offered to 'settle' with her in the legal case which ensued, but at that time (2015) Philomena did not wish to settle (out of court), and continued her case for damages, to health and wellbeing, among other isues. Out of a 'deep craving for justice', and because 'the truth has never been revealed' Philomena is now seeking to have the issue of settlement to be raised again most urgently.

The community of Stillorgan have been ignored for far too long. This pool is a vital part of our community. It is important for... OUR Physical and Mental Health The health and safety and activity of our Children Teens and Adults Swimming Lessons for our local school children Teaching our Adults how to SWIM Teaching the Swimmers how to SAVE LIVES Training Olympic and Special Olympic Swimmers, Training our Championship Swimmers and world record holders. Our Deep water and Scuba Divers. Our Water Polo teams Our Fitness and Rehabilitation Non Impact exercise for those unable for high impact exercise. Long distance lane swimming. Aqua Aerobics Swimming for fitness and pleasure. Local community social gatherings Local Jobs and so much more Glenalbyn was more than just a fun space to splash about in. It provided VITAL services for our community and beyond. With the closure of the LeisurePlex complex Stillorgan has now very limited fitness or leisure facilities for young people. Glenalbyn club itself prides itself on encouraging biking to the club and leaving the car at home... so the argument for the pool infringing on limited car parking spaces it nonsensical. Ignoring the wishes of the Stillorgan has gone on for far too long. All our elected council representatives voted on MONDAY THE 11TH OF FEBRUARY 2019 to keep ring-fenced funding and put motions forward calling to rebuild our facility urgently and yet still no progress has been made despite the many promises made to the community. We are calling on DLRCOCO and all other stakeholders to honour their commitments to the people of Stillorgan and beyond, who they serve, and reinstate the funds and begin the redevelopment of our pool immediately. The community also deserve answers on progress surrounding our pool. We have ALL waited long enough.

Despite having served the community as a CE Supervisor for over 25 years, my sister and many 100's like her, have been denied pension rights, as laid down by the labour court recommendation of 2008. CE programmes have helped thousands of people who were long-term unemployed, or were disadvantaged, to get back to work by getting part-time and temporary work within the local community. The work that has been done has been vital, both from the communities' perspective and from the employees' perspective. CE Supervisors were, and still are, a vital part of each community and the trojan work carried out by each supervisor must be treated equally and fairly in comparison to all other state employees and therefore should be given access to occupational pension schemes.

Here are three fundamental problems with the Public Services Card: • The card may be illegal under European law. • The card targets economically vulnerable people, such as those in receipt of social welfare, pension, child benefit or State grants. • It has cost an estimated €60 million to roll out, with savings of only €2.5million in welfare fraud, according to the Department of Social Welfare. Here are some more problems: • It collects and stores more data than necessary for the Government’s purpose of “streamlining services”. There is no independent body overseeing the use, sharing, storage and security of this data. As always with mass storage of data, there is a high risk of a security breach. • The Data Protection Commissioner has investigated the card’s legality. • The government has said it is not collecting extremely sensitive biometric data, yet the card does require a photo which is subject to analysis by an arithmetic template. • It contradicts the State’s position on privacy at the EU. The Minister for Foreign Affairs is looking for an opt-out of proposed EU ID card biometrics, yet the Department of Social Protection is insisting on PSC biometrics. • Both the state and the Data Protection Commissioner have refused to publicise information regarding the ongoing investigation. The Department of Social Protection flat-out refused to provide an interim report via our freedom of information request to them. Similarly, the Data Protection Officer will not share any of their reports on the matter - only ‘high level findings’. But it’s necessary in order to prevent welfare cheats, isn’t it? • Welfare fraud is far less common than the State would like you to believe. White-collar crime robs the taxpayer of much more every year. • There are better, less invasive ways to achieve this aim. • It doesn’t appear the card is saving the state money in this regard. (See above: fundamental problems). In summary, the Public Services Card is an infringement on your right to privacy and it has to be stopped!!

People from the West and South Offaly area have to travel 45 minutes to Tullamore for access to a doctor outside of office hours. The MIDOC service offered out of hours doctors in Birr up to last year, when the service was suddenly withdrawn without warning or explanation.

St Mary's & St Gerard's NS Enniskerry is a small school serving 220 students. The closest suitable secondary schools to St Mary's & St Gerard's NS are Presentation College, Bray; Loreto Secondary School, Bray; Woodbrook College, Bray; and St Gerard's School. Success in obtaining a place in 1st Year in a local secondary school is proving most difficult for some students. This issue arises due to the following: (i) For some secondary schools St Mary's & St Gerard's students are not allocated a place due to that secondary school favouring other national schools as feeder schools (ii) For other secondary schools St Mary's & St Gerard's students are not allocated a place due to the secondary schools operating a lottery system with some St Mary's & St Gerard's students being allocated a place too far down the waiting list. It is our belief that the right of our children to appropriate local secondary school education is being compromised due to the fact that St Mary's & St Gerard's is not a designated feeder school. Please sign this Petition to notify the school’s Board of Management and the Department of Education about our concerns.

It would allow for a peaceful resolution if May was actually willing to agree to it, and even if (or I suspect when) it was rejected out of hand it would do good for the relationship between reasonable Ulster Unionist political factions and our Republic.

Adults who came to Ireland as children should not be forced to pay the same amount for citizenship as someone who chose to come to the country as an adult and has lived in the country of Ireland for 5 years. There are currently people living abroad that have never and will never step foot on Irish soil that are more entitled to Irish citizenship because they have parents or grandparents who are Irish. These adults were raised in Irish culture and identify culturally as Irish. Many speak or have some level of the Irish language, went to Irish primary and secondary schools, attended Irish colleges, play Irish sports such as hurling and Gaelic football with their local communities, vote in local Irish elections, are members of Irish political parties, currently have employment in Ireland and are paying taxes in Ireland. They are as much a part of Ireland and Irish society as a child born in the country. They should not be expected to pay such exorbitant fees for a piece of paper that tells them they are officially an Irish citizen when it is clear that they are already Irish. No-one should be rejected or taken advantage of by the country they call their home so I ask for your support to help adults who were raised in Ireland to be given the citizenship they deserve.

Education is a constitutional right of every child and currently the existing schools in Gorey will not have capacity to accept every child in the Gorey area from 2021.

Nurses are currently experiencing terrible pay and working conditions. There are not enough nurses employed by the HSE - nurses employed are being overworked to deal with the government-induced healthcare crisis. The result of this is seen in the overcrowding, patients on trolleys and lengthly waiting lists. We cannot take our nurses for granted and we stand with nurses strike action in Kilkenny!