Irish people and also many new residents in Ireland have become HOSTAGES of GREEDY LANDLORDS. SO many needed professionals are leaving Ireland for good because they are unable to make the money for the deposit to buy their first property and EVEN WORSE..... They are afraid of becoming the NEW HOMELESS. We have seen so many people with good jobs paying over 1.200 euros per month rent and trying to survive with what is left of it. Try saving money for a deposit to get into a mortgage is JUST IMPOSSIBLE. Living with your parents is not an option (Parents die, live in a different country or in many cases people never had parents. Most of the time, people are THE PARENTS trying not to become HOMELESS to protect their CHILDREN). Ireland has created the UNTHINKABLE! In any other country, homeless people are usually single people who never went to school or never had a chance to go to school, people who can not get a job or drug addicted. But in Ireland, homeless people actually have a job, usually paid a lot of money to rent a place before becoming homeless and were HOSTAGES of their landlord for a good while. The ones that are not homeless, they are afraid of becoming homeless. The government says that there are not enough houses, but the truth is that there are many houses for sales, people are just UNABLE to buy a property because it is an impossible task to make a deposit for a mortgage while you pay over 1.200 euros rent!!! And the current schemes available ARE JUST NOT HELPING AT ALL!!!!! Even if they BUILD thousands of houses in one month, the number of homeless people will only increase because THE ONES WHO actually NEED to HAVE their first property, they will not afford to buy it, while the rich landlords will buy all of it and rent for WHATEVER PRICE they WANT!!!! WE ARE HOSTAGES of a very stupid system. Please, let's claim for a change NOW. People can not put up with this any longer!

County Sligo still has no abortion services two years on from the referendum to repeal the 8th amendment to the Constitution . Sligo-based pro choice group SARRA say that hat women , girls and pregnant people in Co. Sligo have been let down by the HSE, which is responsible for making abortion services available through the local health services. SARRA has launched this public petition to the HSE calling on it to announce a date for the provision of locally accessible abortion services through the public health system in Co. Sligo, with prompt follow-through on its responsibilities. The group say they have made extensive enquiries with health service structures locally and nationally and still have not been given any details of a date or plan to provide publicly accessible services in Sligo University Hospital or through local GPs. A spokesperson for SARRA, Peigin Doyle, said: “At present, women , girls and pregnant people in Sligo have to travel a round trip of up to 100 km, to Donegal or Roscommon, to access a GP who will give them the medical care they need. These women need to make an initial visit to a doctor followed by another visit three days later and will possibly need to make another visit for a scan if required. That journey may have to be made three times within a short period, often under great stress. This is an unfair and unrealistic burden to place on Sligo women,girls and pregnant people especially those who live in rural areas without public transport services or who cannot afford a car or time to travel. This is not what people in Sligo, or nationally, voted for. Women, girls and pregnant people in Co. Sligo deserve – and need – better than this, and they need it now. “We appeal to local GPs to respond to the needs of women in Sligo by providing the full range of reproductive health services and joining the HSE MyOptions system. We urge the HSE to train and support medical professionals in providing an accessible service at community level and establish the necessary services in Sligo University Hospital.” SARRA can be found on Facebook/Sligo Action for Reproductive Rights Access and twitter @SARRASligo and on their webpage https://northwestactivistsireland.com/sligo-action-for-reproductive-rights-access/ The My Options phone line is open from 9am-9pm Monday to Friday and 10am-2pm on Saturdays on 1800 828 010 (00 353 1 6877044 if calling from Northern Ireland). The online address is www.myoptions.ie

In Ireland up to 1,000 children a year are being forced to stay at home because they cannot get a school place. Overwhelmingly, it is children with special educational needs (SEN) - often those with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) - who are worst hit. Every child and young person with special educational, health and care needs to have the extra support and interventions which will help the child or young person to achieve what they want to in their life. We propose a viable solution for this, an Education, Health & Care (EHC) plan to be the legal and statutory right for every child or young person in Ireland, whose special educational needs require more help than would normally be provided in a mainstream education setting (a college, school, nursery). Annual review of the plan The plan will be reviewed at least once a year. At the end of the review the local authority may make changes to the plan, end it or leave it unchanged. How long will the plan last? The plan will remain in place until your child leaves education or the local council decides that your child no longer needs the plan to help them in their education. If you move to another local council the plan will be transferred. How will the benefits of the EHCp be reinforced? A specialist Tribunal will be in place (which is essentially a no costs jurisdiction) where parents and young persons can challenge the contents of a plan If provision in a plan is not provided, the Local Council (who maintain all such documents) can be challenged by way of Judicial Review or a referral to the Local Government Ombudsman. Once a petition has been published, it will be open to signatures for six months. * At 10,000 signatures, the government will formally respond. * At 100,000 signatures, the request will be considered by the Petitions Committee for debate in Dail. PLEASE SIGN THIS PETITION AND SUPPORT EVERY CHILD AND YOUNG PERSON IN IRELAND TO HAVE THE LEGAL AND STATUTORY RIGHT TO AN EDUCATIONAL, HEALTH AND CARE PLAN.

Many lives are being unnecessarily lost in Ireland every year due to the lack of proper services to cater for mental health. This gap in service provision has led to many people presenting to our psychiatric hospitals being turned away, resulting in these individuals resorting to self-harm or worse – taking their own lives. There was no psychiatric nurse available in Tullamore hospital this week. Furthermore, those waiting to access mental health services can expect a wait of between 6 and 12 months, and there are no aftercare services for people coming out of mental health services in Portlaoise. Another little-known issue that needs to be highlighted is that currently there are no “dual services”. This means that should a person present with intentions of suicide, but have taken alcohol and/or other substances, they are advised to seek addiction counselling or enter rehab before their mental health will be assessed. Many lives have been lost owing to this alone. I have emailed Minister of health the details of this issue and am awaiting a response. We the people of Offaly are calling on our representatives in the Irish government to allocate more funding to the mental health sector. As well as increased hospital-based services, we call on the government to invest additional time and money into educating the public and increasing general awareness about the importance of looking after our mental health. Such funding should also be used to alleviate staff shortages in Offaly and across the country. We in Offaly believe that mental health should be taken as seriously as physical illnesses or injuries. We also ask that our government supports volunteers on the ground who are currently giving much of their free time and energy to helping to prevent suicide in their local communities. Volunteers are not a substitute for professional services but when the two are enabled to work alongside each other, there is a better chance of helping individuals and of decreasing suicide and self-harm. Please take this petition seriously. Remember, it is possible to prevent people taking their own lives. We have the power to protect this and future generations from the devastation caused by suicide

We, the undersigned, note: - The tenants of St Helen’s Court are threatened with eviction by a vulture fund - The current Notice to Quit is the fourth attempt in 3 years by vulture funds to evict these tenants - The current vulture fund and the one that previously owned the apartments are exploiting various loop holes in the residential tenancies legislation to bully and harass these tenants - The harassment is working and, so far, ten tenants have left the complex and found tenancies elsewhere - The remaining ten tenants are resisting the attempt to evict them and expect a hearing in the Residential Tenancies Board in the coming weeks We call on the Minister - To intervene in this situation and ensure Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council buy the apartments to provide affordable homes for these tenants. - Amend the current legislation to remove the loopholes that are currently being exploited by unscrupulous landlords and vulture funds. - Initiate legislation to outlaw all economic evictions.

Deforestation has a detrimental impact on the people who live in the rainforest and the environment globally. The world's rainforests are home to over half of all plants and animals on earth despite the fact they cover less than 5% of it's surface. The rainforest is disappearing alarmingly quickly and many plant and animal species are going with them. The destruction of the rainforest is also a major contributor to global warming - which affects us all. The lifestyles of indigenous tribes are also at risk as the forest their livelihood relies upon is destroyed. Until such point as this is achieved, I urge you to boycott companies sourcing their palm oil unsustainably (information about which can be found via the WWF or the Ethical Consumer). Palm oil is used in a number of everyday products such as lipsticks, chocolates and soap and companies often use a number of alternative names, such as palm kernal or palmitic acid.More information on products that use palm oil can be found at: https://www.worldwildlife.org/pages/which-everyday-products-contain-palm-oil I believe that taking care of our planet is essential, not only to save endangered species from extinction but also to ensure that future generations have the same opportunity that we do, to admire its many wonders. I hope that in signing this petition you can help to lead the way in sourcing palm oil more sustainably so that our planet can breathe again.

This law could save many women from entering into a relationship with a potentially dangerous or violent man. This law has already been passed ìn the UK.

Along with the listings of animal cruelty above, industrial factory factory farming is a major contributor to water and air pollution as well as deforestation. ... This can contaminate local water supplies, reach neighboring populations physically and in a sensorial capacity, and emit harmful gasses. Likewise, livestock release methane gas during their digestion process which accounts for and directly contributes to climate change.

The Earth's temperature is permanently increasing and 700,000 Species are extinct, the Oceans are Polluted, BUT there is no responsible action taken by the Governments and Multinational Industries.

Dublin Council will meet to vote on O'Devany land on 7 October. They're under pressure to deliver homes but we can give them a reason to vote in favour of social housing instead - public land shouldn't be used for private profit. Dozens of Dublin Councillors signed the People's Housing Plan, a pledge to build public homes we can all afford and communities of equals - made up of people from all walks of life. That’s why we have to make our voices heard, to give them the courage they need to fight like hell for the city we all need and deserve. We'll have a day of action in Stoneybatter to Save O'Devany. Join us on 2 October, sign the petition and stand up for better housing now. [1] https://www.rte.ie/radio/utils/share/radio1/21619033

There is too much plastic in our world. We can live with oddly shaped tea bags. We promise.

Lyric FM is the only radio station that plays a programme that is predominantly classical music. Without Lyric, there is no station playing classical music on Irish radio as regular programming. It also offers the very best of jazz and new music.