A modern police force needs to be transparent and accountable. In light of the whistleblower, penalty points and breath tests scandals it is currently neither. If public confidence is to be somehow restored in the Gardai, Noirin O'Sullivan must resign.

Diesel Cars emit soot and NOx toxic fumes and are polluting our clean air and are bad for peoples' health. 70% of new cars purchased in Ireland are diesel - insane - due to the crazy Motor Tax Law that penalises older pre-2008 petrol cars but promotes purchase of new diesel cars. Paris to ban diesel cars from July 2017 ... many other cities to follow. Irish Motor Tax Law is regressive, 2-Tier and bad for your health. This Irish law puts high tax on pre-2008 cars and low tax on those who can afford new cars. It is socially divisive and totally unacceptable.

Irish people are supportive of the idea of sponsoring refugee families. Let's start the ball rolling by offering Moussa and his family safety and urgent medical treatment to save his sight. They have already lost their home and live in horrific conditions in Lebanon where medical services are completely stretched. They are approved for resettlement but have not been offered a safe haven so far. This little boy needs urgent medical care which Ireland can provide, and he does not have time to waste. We have the capacity to sponsor this family and many of us are willing to do what we can financially, socially, emotionally to support this boy's family to get to Ireland. Let's make this happen for Moussa and start the important conversation about refugee family sponsorship in Ireland. https://www.facebook.com/Channel4News/videos/10154734027521939/

Our post office closed overnight on 26th January 2017. There was no notice, since then An Post put the contract out to tender to re-open a post office in the locality. An Post have now extended the deadline to apply until the 7th April, as they state they did not get enough level of interest. There is a fear that we will lose our post office permanently as the same happened to the post office on Vernon Avenue. People collecting social welfare payments, many with mobility problems have to travel to Marino in Fairview to collect their payments. There is no on street pedestrian crossing from the bus stop, but a difficult to manage over head bridge. This post office was an essential service especially in an area with a large number of older residents. It also provided a social outlet and is needed by all in the local community. Please write your own concerns or copy and paste this and email to An Post Retail Regional Office team; Phone: 01 705 7685 or 01 705 7682 email: [email protected]

Music festivals and events should be accessible to everyone in a fair way - but just this morning - tickets for the sold out electric picnic were put online by ticket touts for extortionate prices. This needs to be stopped so that touts can't unfairly profit off people like this.

T.A.R.G.E.T is a vital community service that provides literacy skills, counselling, community employment, extensive training and affordable childcare to the local community in Donaghmede. But, we have just been told that they need to be out of their premises by June - leaving the future of the project - and all the people it supports - hanging in the balance. Can you sign the petition to ask Dublin City Council to make sure a suitable home for our project is found before the June deadline.

College access programmes provide a valuable opportunity for students and school leavers from lower socio-economic backgrounds. These students tend to face both financial and complex social barriers in accessing third level education. From my experience in completing the Trinity Access Programme some of the most frustrating barriers can come from the societal attitudes, perceived or otherwise, within the college, which in many cases can have a stigmatising effect. Requiring prospective students for DIT’s access programme to apply for Garda Vetting will in my view have the effect of further stigmatising some of the most disadvantaged students in the College. Bering in mind that the DIT access programme is aimed at those who have experienced socio-economic disadvantage in their past, the idea that they are singled out for Garda Vetting is totally dis-intuitive to that aim. At its core this is an irrational and unreasonable requirement on students applying for the DIT access programme. While some degrees do require Garda Vetting such as Social Work for example, it makes no sense to apply that requirement to students who do not intend to take those degrees. In this sense the lump approach by the access programme has a discriminatory result vis-à-vis non-access traditional students. It will not only have the effect of stigmatizing students coming through the programme, but it is likely to have a wider effect on anyone thinking of going onto further education through the access programme. Having, myself, completed the Trinity Access Programmes and gone on to complete my degree in Law and Political Science at Trinity, I can say that unreasonable requirements, like this Garda Vetting, applied discriminately to those from lower socio-economic backgrounds re-enforces certain stigmas that such student tend to face on a daily bases. Thus, the application of the Garda Vetting requirement proposed by the DIT access programme makes no real sense in its approach, it discriminates and will have a dis-insentivising effect on prospective students seeking a second chance. For these reasons, I urge you to sign this petition to have this decision reconsidered.

URGENT: A family are to be evicted from their home on Ferrycarrig halting site tomorrow Monday the 20th of March if we don't convince Wexford County Council to withdraw their complaint from An Gardaí. The family have small children and the council have failed to provide suitable alternative accommodation. But, if enough of us sign the petition and send it to Wexford County Council before tomorrow - we could make them change their mind and withdraw their complaint.

Families may no longer be evicted from homes were mortgage was negotiated away from the business premises or by doorstep selling situation i.e. Broker arranged or when the right to cancel was not given i.e. a seven day cooling off period. S.I. No. 224/1989 - European Communities (Cancellation of Contracts Negotiated Away From Business Premises) Regulations, 1989.

There are any number of reasons to support this action. Recent confirmation that human remains of babies and young infants, discovered in a sewage tank on the grounds of a former Mother and Baby home in Tuam is the latest in a long line of stories that have appalled and shocked Ireland and indeed the rest of the world. The clerical child sex abuse cases, the Church's view on contraception, divorce, equal marriage, the role of women in society and in the church, abortion. It is time that people who were brought up as Roman Catholic, should now have the facility to exercise their free will and be able to declare officially that they are no longer of that religion. This facility was taken away from us in 2009 by a change in Canon law. We ask that lawmakers put pressure on the Catholic Church to allow that right. We demand that the Catholic Church allows those of us who wish to leave, the facility to do so on the record. #letusleave

These are some of the worst incidents of abuse in the history of the Irish State. Many children died through neglect and ill-health and possibly physical abuse. All suffered. The State at the time knew this was taking place, but rather than shut them down, they paid these organisations to house those they deemed undesirable. Places like Westbank in Greystones were used as an illegal adoption agency and profited very handsomely out of it. Whilst victims of similar Catholic-run organisations have been recognised under the Redress Act 2002, no such move was made for those in Protestants homes, even though Bethany Home falls under every category for redress. Despite meeting members of the Bethany Home Survivors Group, Minister Zappone is still refusing to fast-track redress for these long-suffering people. Not many are left now and time is running out. https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/bethany-home-survivors-disappointed-over-governments-refusal-to-extend-fast-track-redress-scheme-927837.html

The Mother and Baby Homes Commission has found that there is a 'culture of “institutionalisation and human trafficking” has existed amongst various religious orders and State-funded institutions.' In light of the horrific news of the mass grave in Tuam, all other Mother and Baby Homes now need to be investigated. Only 14 Mother and Baby Homes and 4 County Homes are included within the Commission's Terms of Reference, but numerous people and organisations, including the United Nations and women who spent time in these homes, believe that the scope of the Commission's investigations should be widened.