To facilitate peaceful protest to Trunp and his policies and to respect the political heritage of Co Clare, the Banner County.,

The Irish State has no funding stream for services that help to prevent or treat gambling-related harm. We all know someone whose life has been impacted by problem gambling - either their own, or that of a loved one. In fact, 1 in 10 of us will experience gambling-related harm in our lifetime. Unfortunately, the HSE do not acknowledge gambling addiction as an issue and don't even mention the word gambling in their Service Plan. This means that support services are left to desperately under-funded NGOs. Ireland has the lowest Betting Duty in the world - and will continue to do so, even if the rate is increased to 2%. The increase would bring in an additional €50 million to the Exchequer. Problem Gambling Ireland and the Rutland Centre are proposing that €5 million be made available to all relevant addiction services, working in the area of gambling-related harm. This would leave €45 million for other badly-needed state-funded services. We urge you to contact the Minister for Finance and/or your local TD, asking for an increase in the Betting Duty to fund problem gambling support services. Thank you for supporting this cause and taking the time to have a positive impact on the lives of the thousands of people in Ireland, affected by gambling-related harm. Barry Grant, CEO, Problem Gambling Ireland

There will be a public meeting in the Ballyfermot Civic Office at 7.30pm on Tuesday the 4th September. This meeting is to voice the feelings of residents regarding the cancellation of the 79 bus route from the main road up through Cherry Orchard. This means that anyone living in Cherry Orchard will have to walk to the main road of Ballyfermot to access buses. For all young and old it is very important to turn up and voice your concerns in protest of this proposal. As well as the 79 they want to remove the 76 bus route altogether and change the route of the 18 that will no longer go through Palmerstown or out as far as Sandymouth. All support is greatly needed to prevent our local needs from been taken away. There is public consultation on the 19th September between 3 and 7pm in the Ballyfermot Civic Offices...as this is happening, it is very important that residents and people who work in the Ballyfermot area to meet together as a community to develop a community stance.

Young father deported from Galway and separated from family: Marjan Dakaj attended our meeting last night to tell us about his godson Vahram Barcegyn Artunyan. Vahram arrived in arrived here from Armenia as an asylum seeker here about 12 years ago. He left the Direct Provision system and worked to support himself and his family. A few years later, he married Viktoria and they welcomed their first child. After the birth of their daughter, Vahram approached the Department of Justice and explained his situation, they had him sign in at the office there every month for about 3 years. Last Thursday the 16th of August he went to sign in but was held and deported to Armenia. Vahram received deportation orders a few times during the three years he went to the immigration office but was told by his solicitor that it was harmless and he should continue signing in. By the time Marjan received word of the deportation, Vahram was in France and lawyers couldn't intervene. Viktoria and Vahram's daughter turned 3 years old on the 2nd of August. Marjan and Viktoria want us to do all we can to help bring Vahram back to Ireland. He has a young family here who were not even given a chance to say goodbye. Well known in Galway, Vahram is very active in the community, involved with local football clubs. We are looking for support and solidarity from people who knew him in Galway and further afield. We need legal assistance with this case. Please share and get in touch if you can offer help. This campaign is supported by the Galway Anti-Racism Network, if you can help please contact [email protected]

Vicky Khokhar, the popular Longford ER nurse and local volunteer, is about to be needlessly deported from Ireland and needs our help. In a country starved of qualified nurses, Vicky has an offer in writing for a job with a local Nursing Home. He is awaiting English exam results and recognition of his qualifications to obtain a working visa. Vicky has spent 3 years in the notorious Irish direct provision system. During that time he has volunteered for everything going on in Longford - from the local samba band, the local church, St. Mels Cathedral, St. Mel’s Musical Society, the Attic Youth Cafe and dance projects. He even voluntarily works 5 days a week at the local nursing home, where he is valued as much for his can-do personality as for his qualifications as an ER nurse. His work was beautifully documented in this Irish Times article https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/i-love-spending-the-day-in-the-nursing-home-it-s-bringing-me-back-to-life-1.3455516 In the meantime, his original asylum application has failed (despite Irish government travel advisories on travel to Pakistan, which describe the security situation as ‘unstable and dangerous’) https://www.dfa.ie/travel/travel-advice/a-z-list-of-countries/pakistan/ He is being forced to leave our country. If deported, he will be banned from returning Ireland for 10 years and may face imprisonment back in Pakistan. It’s not too late. We have until August 27th to try and help Vicky stay, or at least enable him to return voluntarily and avoid deportation - leaving him with a chance of coming back. Can you support this petition to Charlie Flanagan, the Minster for Justice asking for common sense to prevail and for Vicky to be granted permission to stay in Ireland, at least until his work permit is ready? It makes no sense to send him back and he risks getting lost in the system and never making it back to Ireland where he is valued and needed. Vicky is exactly the kind of person we want in our communities. Lets make this work for him.

Jobseekers who are aged 18-24 years and are not in education or employment receive a reduced allowance of €107.70 per week and €152.80 for those aged 25, compared to €198 for all adults over 26. Young jobseekers under 26 living independently in Ireland cannot afford a rent contribution along with the cost of bills and food. We believe that this age-discrimination is pushing vulnerable young adults who are at risk further into consistent poverty, and hampering them from finding employment and exiting poverty and often times homelessness. Crosscare work with young adult Jobseekers under 26 who are experiencing homelessness or are at risk of becoming homeless. There are three main groups of young adult Jobseekers who are particularly at risk: • Those who are experiencing homelessness and residing in homeless services • Those leaving State Care who are excluded from the TUSLA Aftercare Allowance • Those who have received International Protection in Ireland and must move to independent living We are asking Minister Doherty to restore the full rate of Jobseekers Allowance for all young adults from 18-26 years - in particular for these 3 groups. We have worked with these young people to produce two short videos to illustrate how the current allowance has impacted their lives: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUkj0Q9rJk8&feature=youtu.be Joe's Story https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bexfQKulthk Najma's Story Please sign our petition to ask the Irish Government to #RestoretheYouthSafetyNet and give these Young People at risk the support that they need.

Ireland is a destination and source country for women, men and children subjugated to sex trafficking and forced labour. In the past week, the US State Department has downgraded Ireland from Tier 1 to Tier 2 ranking in its latest Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report, putting Ireland on par with India and Indonesia. This shouldn't be happening in a country with the resources that Ireland has. We can't accept this. We can't allow people from poorer countries to be lured to Ireland with false promises of legal visas and good wages, only to be forced into labour in the fisheries industry or producing illegal drugs. We can't allow vulnerable women and children from Ireland and abroad to be sexually exploited on our soil. We can't allow Ireland be used as an international hub for these activities! Terrible international criminal gangs have identified Ireland as a weak point and are using it as a sick trade port, where women, men and children from all over Europe and beyond are shipped into and out of, destined for terrible fates. We need to rescue these people and put a stop to it!

Both Gemma O'Doherty (award winning journalist) https://gemmaodoherty.com/ and respected financial whistleblower Johnathon Sugarman http://whistleblowerirl.blogspot.com/ have un blemished track records in uncovering political and financial corruption for the public good in Ireland. Notably issues that are totally relevent, newsworthy, affect peoples lives and need to be known by the Irish public. For instance Gemma O'Doherty was the first to uncover the penalty points scandal and has yet to be interviewed or allowed to comment on this issue! Johnathon Sugarman who is a financial whistleblower with indepth knowledge about the financial and banking corruption that is rife including the recent Drumm judgement. Why have they not been asked to comment? Is this a form of media censorship? Many People believe that for any other reason than balance alone they should be given a voice on mainstream media otherwise this is a form of Censorship in Ireland.

It is important that the Minister realise that for entry in to the 2019 Eurovision, Ireland will need musicians to be representative. Anyone who signs this petition is making it clear that they will a) Not support or be part of any entry b) Would prefer that such an action be taken at Government level

People who are homeless deserve better. If families who have been made homeless are forced out of their emergency accommodation in hotels during the Pope's visit - then many of them will end up in Garda Stations, with nowhere to go.

Forcibly separating children from their parents is a traumatic experience that will cause “irreparable harm”. The actions of Trump has caused outrage - even amongst his supporters. The more people who speak out the stronger the likelihood this cruel and extreme policy will be overturned.

LloydsPharmacy workers deserve respect from their employer. In their own words: "Employee's don't get the credit they deserve. The company are willing to see experienced staff leave rather than pay them what they deserve." "For the work, advice and care we give to our customers we are very undervalued and underpaid." "I have no guaranteed hours in my contract even though I normally work 38 hrs. We were rejected for mortgage because I have no set hours in my contract. When I asked for my hours to be put in the contract I was told it couldn't be done. I don't think that's fair." Our Mandate members do not want to be on strike, and are only taking this action as a last resort. We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused to the public but we ask for their understanding as our members are forced to take action. Lloyds Pharmacy refuses to engage with their trade union despite a Labour Court recommendation that stated: ‘“the Court recommends that the parties engage in order to seek agreement in relation to the matters raised by the Trade Union…’ Yet Lloyds Pharmacy management continue to ignore the Court, their members and their designated representatives. Mandate has been campaigning for improvement in working condition in LloydsPharmacy, including: • A pay increase and incremental pay scales; • The introduction of a sick pay scheme; • Security of hours and the elimination of zero hour contracts; and • Improvements in annual leave entitlements and public holiday premiums. LloydsPharmacy Ireland operates 88 stores across the Republic of Ireland with approximately 800 staff in their retail business. They are owned by the largest pharmaceutical company in the world, McKesson Corporation, which has revenues of $198.5 billion (€169 billion – more than double the annual revenue of the Irish government).