Castlemartyr National School is based on the busy N25 Cork to Waterford road, less than 200 metres from a busy junction as well as having an adjacent road servicing an estate. The school has been supported by a traffic warden for over 30 years but since November, the school has had to do without a warden due to the safety concerns expressed by a number of wardens who have held the position. Although this position is actively being recruited for, it still leaves the issue of safety around the area of paramount concern. Traffic surveys carried out at the areas have shown that a large percentage of passing traffic will regularly break the speed limit which is set at 50km/h. Footpaths opposite the school are extremely narrow and passing traffic is less than one metre away from anyone using those footpaths. This can mean that large trucks and other vehicles can be traveling at 50Km/h less than one meter away from children or families with buggies walking to and from school. The School has 245 students with over 170 families as part of its community with many having to travel to the school, particularly families from Mogeely. Children cycling or using a Scooter to get to school have no option but to use the road or narrow footpath. Parking in the locality is extremely limited due to the size of the car park in the school. Many people have to find parking locally and then walk to the school. The entrance to the car park at the school is less than 5 metres from the entrance to Kiltha park which means that there are three lanes of traffic that need to be navigated when crossing the road close to the school. This also causes concern for local residents as driveways may be used for turning or parking when dropping or picking up children. The N25 sees upwards of 15,000 vehicles pass through Castlemartyr each day. With such a large volume of traffic passing through a populated village it is vital that the safety of pedestrian and motorists alike is addressed with the highest urgency. https://trafficdata.tii.ie/sitedashboard.asp?sgid=XZOA8M4LR27P0HAO3_SRSB&spid=5229D2644906 The list can go on but we need action and we need your support, we want Castlemartyr to be a safe place for children going to and from school. Some form of traffic calming has to take place. Please sign and share this petition to show your support and help us ensure our children can walk safely to school.

Given the increased population of Bree Village and surrounding areas and the services that the village provides such as education, child care, GAA and retail, the volume of traffic entering Bree Village has greatly increased in recent years. It is obvious to many residents and “Bree Community Tidy Towns” that this increased volume of traffic is now causing great concern with the possibility of an accident or fatality to the fore of people’s minds.

(1) In places where we don't have segregated cycle lanes, cyclists already have to share their lane with buses. There have been countless incidents of taxi drivers driving and behaving dangerously - sometimes even outright aggressively - towards cyclists. Removing taxis from the bus lanes will make cyclists safer. (2) Taxis are not ecologically sound transport, they often only have a single passenger, and shouldn't be prioritised in our traffic systems. Bus lanes should be empty and free flowing so that green public transport becomes quicker and more attractive to people.

The traffic issues around our school with HGV usage have been exacerbated by Brexit and now pose life-threatening risks to the children of Kilrane National School everyday and to the residents of the Kilrane area. In summary; Kilrane has been subjected to years of bad planning practices, Brexit has now made these HGV traffic issues around our school far far worse. The safety issues around our national school are now at a life-threatening stage since the implementation of Brexit. And it is our fear that it is only a matter of time before someone is seriously injured at the school. The long-term future of Kilrane and Rosslare Harbour as a livable residential areas is in danger, as well as the future of our very valuable tourist industry which is based around the affected area. We wish for the businesses involved to stay in the Kilrane/Rosslare Harbour area as we have no issue with the businesses involved, just with their current proposed locations. So we call on Wexford County Council to honour their promises to solve our traffic issues and to honour their statutory obligations to the residents, especially our children, and reject the planning permission application for a new haulage depot in Kilrane Business Park. The granting of such would be catastrophic for our children. Our detailed objection letter will be ready shortly and we will make it public. Please sign this petition by the 2nd of November 2022.

Sign this petition to let your voice be heard We have had no information and no apology regarding the unsafe tap water. The public water quality is considerably compromised and a serious risk to your health if you consume it. This should in a written statement to every household affected. There should also be a notice that the water will damage and break appliances i.e kettle, dishwasher, washing machines etc We need an disposal unit for electrical and plastic waste caused by this issue and compensation for broken appliances. There is a good article here on how Maganese can be toxic and dangerous to our health. https://labs.selfdecode.com/blog/manganese-toxicity/ If you are worried that you have symptoms , you can contact your G.P and book some tests. Vitamin E and Milk Thistle may help to to combat manganese toxicity.

It's a very dangerous road and pupils are risking every time they need to cross the road going to school or coming back home. Image source: https://tinyurl.com/mrxws8n9

Many people rely on these public buses to get access to services, family and work. We should be protecting all bus routes to promote more sustainable and affordable means of travel. Don't cut rural Waterford off from public bus services. https://waterford-news.ie/2022/09/12/suirway-to-cease-public-transport-services-after-123-years/

It defies logic to construct a second cycleway instead of utilising the existing one.  The approach seems to be completely at odds with the Greenway’s own stated aim of a "maximising the value of existing infrastructure” and a “Greenway should link with community sites such as schools or housing estates as a means of commuting to work, a school and recreation” Using the existing cycleway would provide a safer infrastructure for everyone, especially school-going children so benefiting the local community as well as tourists. Using the existing cycle lane would bring the Greenway through Ballinderreen village which would benefit local communities by bringing new business opportunities. Loss of privacy to many households, destruction of natural habitat, implications to wildlife (including protected owls and bats), noise and light pollution, safety and crime concerns are among the many fears of the local community. Please Sign our petition to get existing cycle lane finished as part of the new proposed Greenway.

Schools open this week but thousands of students have been left stranded - because the Dept of Education has failed to organise enough buses. Norma Foley is spinning a story that this is a new problem - but we all know that every year there are never enough school bus places for everyone who needs them. Parents are scrambling to find ways to get their children to school on time. Many will be forced to take time off work, pay for taxis, juggle already stressful days. We need to make sure school children can get to school.

Cyclists and Drivers sharing the same road space is challenging and dangerous. Cycling for leisure, fast-food delivery and competitive cycling are increasing, as are accidents. It is common to be held back on a country road by three or four cyclists, cycling side-by-side, slowing traffic down. Equally, in the city, it is not unusual to be held back on a busy city street by a fast-food delivery cyclist casually cycling in the middle of the road with their phone in hand. These situations are dangerous for both drivers and cyclists. This creates a passive aggressive streak in drivers that we are all more than aware of. It is now time to address this issue. A solution to this problem is for cyclists to undertake both a theory and practical road test to understand the shared rules of the road. Additionally, I am calling for the introduction of registration plates for cyclists, so they can be identified in case of an accident. Please sign this with me and submit to our local councils. Cyclists are only doing what they are allowed and feel entitled to do. We need to ask the change makers to enact this rule of licences and registration plates to keep the roads, cyclists and drivers safe.

Ireland has repeatedly missed its greenhouse gas emissions targets and, with the transport sector accounting for 20% of the nation's CO2 emissions, switching to electric vehicles represents a great opportunity to cut emissions quickly. This also has the benefit of reducing air pollution, which will benefit public health, while the cheaper running costs will help many who are already struggling due to the Cost of Living Crisis. At present, incentives are only available for brand new electric cars - which makes them unaffordable for the majority of people. This is also delaying an affordable second-hand EV market, which needs to be prioritised if the majority of people are to be able to make the switch. A key mantra for tackling the Climate Crisis is doing more with less. Converting petrol, diesel and hybrid cars to run as full EVs is a great example of this – as it takes cars that run perfectly well, but which have high and harmful emissions, and delivers all the benefits of electric cars – such as lower running costs and no air pollution – at an affordable price. We have previously seen the Irish Government offer scrappage schemes for cars – but this has come at the cost of a lot of metal, plastic and oil waste. By funding EV conversions instead of supporting scrappage schemes, the Government can not only avoid unnecessary waste, but also help to keep natural resources in the ground by effectively recycling the cars that we already have. The French Government has made EV conversions available for a price of just €5,000, which is a much more realistic entry point for most people in Ireland. Especially during a cost of living crisis

AIB is moving 70 of their branches to cashless banking. [1] Not only will going cashless mean no notes, coins, cheques, foreign exchange, bank drafts - it will remove any drop safes, night safes and ATMs outside. This is going to cause huge hardship for many people - especially older and vulnerable people, local businesses, people who don’t have access to the internet. The greed and recklessness of banks, including AIB bosses, played a crucial role in bringing about the financial crash. [2] Homes were repossessed by banks, families lost their incomes, young and not-so-young people were forced to emigrate, businesses had to close. We cannot stand by while our majority state-owned bank hurts our communities again. [1] https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2022/0719/1311026-aib-to-turn-70-branches-cashless-expand-an-post-deal/ [2] https://pai.ie/bank-bailout-costs-state-nearly-e42-billion/ https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-32516942