The presidential election gave a platform for anti Traveller hostility to be openly displayed and the Traveller community to be harassed and abused. The conduct of the presidential candidate Peter Casey, his supporters and some sections of the media, took us back to the expression of open hatred that we haven't seen since the civil rights marches. Travellers have been pushed to the margins of our society, often denied access to the most basic of services. The Traveller community is 10 times more likely to experience homelessness and 7 times more likely to die by suicide. Children from the Traveller community are growing up being made to feel like they don't belong, they are growing up thinking they are not good enough, growing up to be made feel ashamed of their background, in order to be accepted. No one should feel this way in the Ireland of today. I believe we can all play our part in stopping the rise of hatred and oppression. Instead of looking to Traveller groups and organisations to have to challenge anti Traveller racism, we all can and must play our part. It is the settled community who need to call it out and say that this wont be tolerated in our name. If we want to live in a fair and equal society, we must stand together, build each other up and build bridges, not walls. Sign the pledge to stand in solidarity with Travellers, and help stamp out racism and discrimination.

The bill to legalise abortion will not include a reference to pregnant transgender people. People of any gender identity who can get pregnant deserve to be seen and represented in our laws.

Many tenants are being evicted because landlord currently can prevent a further Part 4 tenancy. We are in the middle of a Housing Emergency, there is no reason why a tenant should not be allowed security of tenure if the aren't in breach of their obligations as set out in the Residential Tenancies Act 2004.

Repealing the 8th Amendment was only half the battle. Without ready access to abortion and other services, REPEAL will mean little. With the new maternity hospital costing the state at least €350 million and set to be built on land owned by the sisters of charity and run by a board appointed by them, this access will be compromised. Despite its name, the National Maternity Hospital is a private Catholic corporation. The hospital recently agreed to be taken over by a private company owned by the Sisters of Charity, St Vincent's Healthcare Group (SVHG), which manages the nuns' three hospitals. The National Maternity Hospital is now slated to get a new facility built by the government on land owned by the nuns. This new build will cost an estimated €350m. Contrary to what the Minister for Health has repeatedly claimed, the State will not own the new hospital. All the government will own are the bricks. Current plans will see the maternity hospital governed by the SVHG, and owned by a new private Catholic company to be set up by SVHG. The Minister claims the new hospital will be free of religious influence. Such claims ring hollow. With private ownership come legal powers and privileges. Private hospitals cannot be forced to provide services that conflict with their ethos. They cannot even be compelled to submit to independent inquiries into patient safety, as a High Court case taken by the same National Maternity Hospital against the Minister shows. The hospital recently won its case, blocking a HIQA inquiry following the death of a 34 year old woman during surgery at the hospital. The inaugural public meeting of the Campaign Against Church Ownership of Women's Healthcare on Saturday 20th October 2018 unanimously adopted the following Declaration, namely that: * the National Maternity Hospital be taken into public ownership as a condition of public funding; * the €350m earmarked for the new build be conditional on the change of ownership; * the new maternity hospital be governed by a new, secular charter fit for the 21st century; We are looking to groups that work on behalf of women and all genders, binary and non binary, that are impacted by issues that may traditionally be considered women's healthcare- organisations, students, trade unions, political parties, and others to endorse this Declaration and demand its immediate implementation. Help make the National Maternity Hospital ours, by joining our campaign. Urgent action is needed now: the Minister hopes to sign off on the first works in connection with the new build before the end of this year. Please sign our petition. ******* Join our public meeting this evening******** https://fb.me/e/WJm7zwEu Follow our campaign and help us to #MakeNMHOurs This petition was created by the Campaign Against Church Ownership of Women’s Healthcare.

Established in 1996, Lifeline Inishowen provides professional and confidential support to women and children who are experiencing or have experienced domestic abuse: physical, emotional, sexual or financial. The service's volunteers provide support to 54 families per year, on average. HSE funding was withdrawn in 2010. Although Lifeline receive a small sum from TUSLA towards their Child Counselling service, their main source of funding for the past 8 years has been donations through their own fundraising efforts, and their charity shop. Local support has been overwhelming, but is sadly not enough to secure the future of this vital service. Inishowen has a bigger population than Co Leitrim and a larger landmass than Co Louth. The only funded domestic violence support in the entire county of Donegal is located in Letterkenny – a 120km round-trip from Lifeline's Carndonagh base. This is simply impossible to access for Inishowen women and children in controlling and abusive households. Minister Zappone and TUSLA, we demand that the funding for Lifeline Inishowen's running costs is reinstated. The centralisation of domestic abuse services in a big, rural county like Donegal is disastrous for families in Inishowen. Closure of Lifeline will literally put lives at risk. Reinstate the funding to secure the future of these essential services in Inishowen. Lifeline Inishowen Charity nr: 19971

We do not want a hard border on the island of Ireland. It is vital that our peace process is maintained and that there is no return to the past of violence and division.

The current policy of criminalising addicts neither benefits users or society. We have the fourth highest overdose rate in Europe per capita. We've got to realise that we do not have control over drug addiction - we're allowing greedy people, the drug dealers, to sell drugs and destroy a lot of lives.

The safety and access requirements of all Kill residents both drivers and pedestrian has become treacherous with the increased volume of traffic through the village in recent years. There was a serious accident recently involving a schoolchild trying to cross the street which has brought focus onto the safety issue. There are also issues of access to housing estates and minor roads when there is no natural break in traffic and also no road markings or lights to allow a fair balance in the movement of said traffic. *UPDATE* It is now October 2020 and apparently KCC have been leading us on a not so merry dance, they say that although the funding is available and that a local firm offered to install the crossing... WE ARE NOT GETTING A PEDESTRIAN CROSSING. How can the decision makers sleep at night? KCC are happy to give planning permission for more houses to be built in Kill but are not willing to add the necessary infrastructure for the growing population! A traffic count was conducted during lockdown, showing an unrealistic picture of traffic volumes through the village ... fantastic logic. We as a community will not give up fighting for the safety of our village!

Several Children and parents were let down yesterday when they received their letters from the local Secondary School, over hundred on the waiting list. The situation already looks grim for over hundred families and since Rush and Lusk have been dynamically expanding fears arose that the situation can only get worse in the coming years. Commuting is not a solution. Rush needs more Secondary School places.

Over 250,000 people attend GAA matches in the north every season with countless more wanting to watch or listen to coverage on TV, radio and online. GAA is the largest spectator sport in the north yet the BBC have still made no progress or new investment to ensure equal access to Gaelic games for northern viewers and licence payers. This historic neglect of Gaelic games both at club and county level must end.

Comments made by Peter Casey in relation to the Traveller community were derogatory, discriminating and racist. There is no room for hate in Ireland.

I am challenging Limerick City and County Council on their decision to refuse me retention of 21 solar pv panels on grounds of „ serious visual intrusion and that they set undesirable precedent for such development” https://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/courts/district-court/woman-claims-order-to-remove-solar-panels-forced-her-to-burn-fossil-fuels-1.3622137?mode=amp Since the picture was taken, I was brougt to court and I had to take down 14 out of 21 panels. Those panels used to heat home for me and my girls. Since I had to fit in a gas burner to heat our house for winter, my spendings up to date are over 5000 euro (applications to An Board Pleanala and CC Council, burner, taking down panels) and if I loose this case there will be legal costs for County Council, that I will have to cover. I am trying to change the legislation that only allows people to put up to 12 sq m of panels without prior planning. I belive that if we want to pass on Earth to our kids, Earth that would feed them and provide them with fresh air we need to change how we source energy and how we spend it. This will have an impact on everyone in Ireland, who wants to use pv panels and might not be able to afford to employ an architect and go through a planning process. Thank you for your support! And if you are arround, come by and support me in Kilmallock court on 13.11.18. Asia