We are not criticising teachers. They are already overwhelmed with looking after the academic, emotional, social, physical and mental development of their students. We are not criticising schools. They are just doing their best to remain open to provide education for our future generations. And we are not blaming the government. They have the difficult job of choosing what departments get funding, and what departments unfortunately miss out. Instead, this campaign is emphasising that we as a society need to keep up to date with how the world is changing. According to UNICEF, Ireland ranks number 4th in the EU for adolescent suicide rates and number 1 in the EU for female adolescent suicide rates. On top of this, the number of young girls aged 10 – 14 presenting with self harm has rose by 189% in the decade preceding Covid. It is very clear that we have a problem. The SPHE (Social, Personal and Health Education) curriculum has not been updated in 20 years and think about how much the world has changed since 1999. If you read the SPHE curriculum, it states several fabricated outcomes such as teaching children self-confidence, how to deal with difficult feelings and how to cope with new situations. But there is no evidence that this curriculum is working? In fact, statistics are showing that it is not working. SPHE is really important and the curriculum is actually very well written. It is essentially teaching children how to successfully operate as independent individuals; how to live. However, it is squeezed into 30 minutes a week. Imagine trying to promote academic development by putting maths, English, history, geography, business and science all together into one subject and teaching it for a half an hour a week. Impossible, yet this continues with SPHE. The introduction of Covid-19 is likely to change the education system forever. As schools were forced to adapt to technological transformations, child mental health continued to deteriorate. It was a problem before, and research from Oxford University is showing that it's an even bigger problem now. Intervention is important but prevention is more effective, both in terms of health and financial outcomes. Global warming is clearly happening and there are people flying less, becoming vegan and recycling more (which is fantastic). On the other hand, there are children taking their lives as young as 10 and the only thing we’re doing is telling people to talk? Just have a think about that for a second. This is important because it can save lives. The consequences of not seeing this change is children continuing to have a low quality of life or worse again, taking their lives and leaving behind devastated families. Don't wait until there is a problem. Change the curriculum and the education around mental health and we'l see the stigma reduced, we'l promote the potential of every child and we'l prevent problems before they happen. Thank you.

Mike Pence presides over a cruel and inhuman system of detention at the US - Mexico border. He's also anti LGBTQIA+ rights and he supports conversion therapy for gay and bisexual people. As a country, we have a duty to say no to treating him as an official guest, as his politics flies in the face of everything we stand for. We certainly shouldn't roll out the red carpet for him to visit.

The residents of Clarehall have experienced a significant increase in house break ins and car thefts over the last year. We believe that contributory factors to this increase are lack of Garda visibility on the estate and deterioration in quality & brightness of street lighting since DCC installed LED lighting.

There are already discussions happening with the HSE on harm reduction and how organisers and promoters of these large gigs and festivals should be given options to keep people safe by providing on site testing kits and areas for people to test drugs they come in contact with. But it's not happening quick enough. Young people are dying. We need a change of legislation now to allow these harm reduction measures and on site testing kits to become a reality in Ireland. Whatever your opinion is on why people experiment with mind alternating substances, people will continue to do it and all of the best research around the world points to allowing harm reduction practices and providing reliable information as being the best approach for people who decide to take drugs. It is terrible that young people in the prime of their lives have to die because of making an uninformed choice. If the young man in Cork, who died after taking a substance at a festival had of known what exactly was in the substance he took, would he have taken it? Where testing areas are provided at festivals, many people dump their drugs when they discover it is not what they thought. They decide not to take a gamble on the unknown. But this is exactly what is happening to our young people every time they make an uninformed choice on drugs and take a gamble with their own lives. It's not good enough in this day and age and it shouldn't be allowed to continue. We need to be bold and tackle this growing concern for safety of our young people head on. Please support this campaign for greater awareness and safety around drugs so no more young people have to lose their lives. Sign and share as widely as you can. Thank you Jenny File photograph: Cyril Byrne / The Irish Times

The rise of racism in Dublin is something we are all very worried about. Last week, we saw Nazi salutes on Barrow street, and now we're seeing immigration officers operating out of Dublin Regional Homelessness Executive offices to target migrants experiencing homelessness. Dublin should be a welcoming city, that stands up to racism in all its forms; from the far right organising on our streets, to the National Government using their powers to target migrants in need of housing. Declaring Dublin a Sanctuary City could be the first step in making sure Ireland is a welcoming country that rejects racism in all its forms.

There are 22 children in the Killenagh/Ballygarrett area seeking school transport to Creagh College in Gorey, approximately 16km away. Half of the parents in our group have already built their lives around the fact that the children can be brought to Creagh College by the School Transport system. Some of these children are going into 6th year. This is an additional stress on an already stressful year for any student. We’ve looked into private busses and it is simply not affordable at €40-€50 per week per child. Some families have 3 children in the school and most of us will have multiple children over the coming years. We have been advised that €4m would solve this situation nationally. We need a solution locally in two weeks. We need action NOW!! #22forcreaghbus

The Department of Education funds extra summer schooling for all students with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and children with severe or profound intellectual disabilities. However, children with Down syndrome who have a mild or moderate learning disability are not included. Children with Down syndrome need the additional support during the Summer months so they can reach their full potential.

Clondalkin is over 1,000 years old and is attracting more and more visitors to view its heritage. In this regard the proposed nursing home is wholly inappropriate. The four storey building would block the view of the limestone convent while the proposed brick finish is not at all in keeping with local architecture. In addition an antique stone wall on Convent Rd., would be knocked not to mention the additional traffic that would ensue in an already gridlocked village. The grounds and cloisters of the convent include an endangered species of bird, the Swift, which would be threatened by the construction. Such a development would detrimentally affect the historic character of Clondalkin and one of its most important heritage sites.

In Oct 2012 Marie Fleming began proceedings in the High Court to challenge the law on assisted dying.  A few months earlier I had become a member of  DIGNITAS - To live with dignity - To die with dignity, more for my particular kidney trouble than my Multiple Sclerosis.  Marie’s case was a landmark legal action specifically testing the (criminal) Irish law on assisted suicide. Unsuccessful in the High Court, Marie appealed in the Supreme Court. Although not successful in the Supreme Court (29/5/13) this court nonetheless ruled that there was nothing to stop the Oireachtas passing legislation. In 2015 inspired by and in memory of Marie Fleming, TD John Halligan helped by her partner Tom Curran introduced the ‘Dying with Dignity Bill 2015’ in the Dáil.  It reached stage one. Chiefly, I believe for lack of courage and support from TD’s it didn’t progress. In 2017 the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice and Equality met on the Right to Die with Dignity. As reported in the ‘Report on the Right to Die with Dignity’ which followed in 2018 because of the lack of clear consensus this Committee was unable to recommend legislative change at that time. The Dying with Dignity Bill is a very good piece of legislation and deserves to be supported. You could show yours here.

Cars valued at or exceeding £40,000 are subject to the Luxury Car Tax (£1600 over 5 years). This should be abolished for EVs as it impedes numerous Government initiatives and targets for transport and emissions. A tax refund should be available for those who paid the tax from at least 2019 onwards. The tax contradicts numerous Government statements about wanting to do more to reduce emissions, improve air quality and push EVs & autonomous driving. Many EVs suitable as replacements for petrol/diesel cars are higher priced by virtue of the large, expensive batteries and advanced manufacturing required, and therefore cannot be cheaply produced. It is hypocritical to punish manufacturers and consumers for buying the same innovative electric cars the Government says they want on the road.

Game of Thrones Players on GTArcade spend hundreds and thousands on their game to get a reliable and expected experience out of it, however with GTArcades actions they are destroying accounts that players have invested so much time and money into through willful negligence. As the King on Kingdom 34, I am starting this petition on behalf of the players on my server and others effected by this 'mistake'

We are taking our inspiration from Greta Thurnberg and the School Strike for Climate and asking you to leave your place of work if your working and if not join the day of action in whatever way you can. Also please ask your Union and local Politicians to publicly support the strike. This is to show solidarity with our children who may not have a planet to live in !!!! If we don't stop destroying it immediately !!!!! This is a global strike and its vitally important that we send a message to our Govt who are still issuing licences to the Fossil Fuel Corporations who account for over 70% of the pollution that is destroying our planet ! We support the 3 demands of Extinction Rebellion 1 TELL THE TRUTH and inform the public about the extent of the climate emergency. 2 ACT like it's an emergency and stop fossil fuel exploration and 3. Ensure a JUST TRANSITION where the most vulnerable are expected to shoulder the most of the urgent policy changes of climate change ! So please sign the petition and send it to your Union Representative or local Politician and join the Strike on the 20th Sept 2019