The wages paid at present in ireland are not enough to cover the rising living costs .This is simply not enough to live on, with the average weekly minimum wage income €320- €360 per week. (€9.60 per hour). The average wage needs to be set to at least €11 per hour to cover living costs and for a decent standard of living, which is our right. The wages have stayed the same for a decade in Ireland, while everything else has gone up in price considerably. The wages are completely unrealistic and anyone trying to pay rent/ mortgage/ car costs/TV licence/ utility Bills/ refuse/ WiFi/ loans,etc are stretched to the limites and having to get into further debt just to make ends meet. This is not good enough. In Ireland it is well known that the cost of living is really high and it should be met with a fair minimum wage to meet the rising living costs. We deserve better than this, and we demand an immediate review of the minimum wage to a fair and realistic one. In Scandinavian countries, where the standard of living is rated the highest in the world, the minimum wage is €25 per hour, and the working week has been decreased to 32 Hours. This means people have a good standard of living for the work they do.They are less stressed, therefore they don't need to take sick days, and their overall work productivity is higher, as they are less stressed. They can easily cover their living costs and have some kind of lifestyle, which we are entitled too. This is also really good for the economy and communitites as people will spend more, meaning there is more money circulating in communities and the economy- everybody benefits. Please help to support this campaign and share with family and friends. Something really needs to be done, and together we do have a voice.

(English translation below) Tá easpa áiseanna ann do chainteoirí Gaeilge sa chathair agus in Éirinn. Ba bhréa lár-ionad a bheith ann chun an Ghaeilge, na healaíona agus ár gcultúr a chur chun cinn ar mhaithe le muintir na hÉireann agus na mílte cuairteoirí a thagann anseo de bharr ár n-oidhreachta. Is beag deis atá ag lucht labhartha na Gaeilge an teanga a úsáid tar éis dóibh an córas oideachais a fhágáil. Thabharfadh lár-ionad le café, amharclann agus seomra comhdhála, deiseanna do dhaoine Gaeilge a labhairt gan bac. Tá lár-ionaid bhreátha ag lucht na Fraince, na Gearmáine agus na Spáinne i mBaile Átha Cliath ach níl áit ar bith lárnach inar féidir le Gaeilgeoirí de chuile aois teacht le chéile. Mhaígh an rialtas go mbunófaí ionad Gaeilge agus cultúrtha i lár chathair Bhaile Átha Cliath sa Phlean Forbartha Náisiúnta 2018-2027. Seo Bliain na Gaeilge. Tacaigh linn agus iarr ar an Aire Madigan Cultúrlann a bhunú, ní i gceann deich mbliana, ach anois! There is a lack of facilities for Irish speakers in the city and in Ireland. It would be great to have a centre that would promote Irish, the arts and our culture for the people of Ireland as well as the thousands of visitors who come here because of our heritage. Irish speakers have few opportunities to use the language after they leave the education system. A Cultúrlann which would have a café, a theatre and a conference room would provide people with opportunities to speak Irish without any hindrance. The French, Germans and Spanish have lovely centres in Dublin. There is no central place where Irish speakers of all ages can come together. The government stated that a language and cultural hub in Dublin city centre would be established in the National Development Plan 2018-2027. This is Bliain na Gaeilge – the Year of the Irish Language. Support us and ask that Minister Madigan establishes an Irish language centre, not in ten years time, but now!

Our University should put the welfare of students at the center of everything that it does. We need a freeze on fees for all students and affordable rental options. We are a collective of undergraduate and postgraduate students in Trinity College Dublin who can no longer stand by and watch the commodification of our education. Last month, in a referendum held by TCDSU 82% of students voted strongly against the implementation of Supplemental Fees. The College Board decided to ignore the voice of the students, and implement Supplemental Fees at a flat rate of €450. Last year, College signed the Student Partnership Agreement, which promises to promote democracy and ensure that students are stakeholders in decisions that College make. Trinity’s decision to introduce supplemental exam fees is evidence of their continuing disregard for students, their opinions, and their welfare. Please sign this petition to show your support of the #TakeBackTrinity campaign. If you are a Trinity student or staff, please sign with your tcd.ie address If you are not please use your preferred email address. We thank you for your support!

Whilst the rest of the Europe prepares for the introduction of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to protect citizens personal data, Fine Gael right now is trying to exempt itself and Govt from these laws! Given the state of the nation where we see daily evidence of Garda and ministerial corruption including the cover-up of the Mary Boyle child murder case, fraud investigations at the Garda training college, on-going criminal activities within the Dept of social protection, allegations of corruption in NAMA, proof of theft, over changing and illegal home evictions by Govt owned banks and most recently smear campaigns and intimidation of Garda whistle-blowers and jailing of anti-corruption activists this is not the time to give the Govt more cover to hide behind, we need greater full transparency than exists presently. Fine Gael right now is trying to circumnavigate data protection laws including the incoming EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). It is trying to do this through the introduction of The Data Protection Bill 2018 which in fact not only weaken Irish citizens’ rights dramatically but also see the Fine Gael government is able to break established laws that it will still meanwhile, demand others to obey. By any stretch of the incoming situation being created by Fine Gael, this is blatant one law for them and another for the rest of the people in Ireland. In short, the Data Protection Act 2018 as it is being presented, waiting to be Dail voted on, is a complete disgrace and is far from acting to the benefit of all. The Irish Council for Civil Liberties says that the bill “impacts fundamental human rights, and on first reading gives rise to serious concerns across a broad range of privacy rights issues”. “The ICCL believes that proper analysis and consideration of these issues is required, and we are concerned at the apparent haste with which the Government is pushing through important legislation in a highly sensitive area.” Independent Senator Alice Mary Higgins has stated: “The bill proposes a number of wide, often vague, exemptions which allow the State and public bodies to override an individual’s right to privacy and data protection and, outrageously, it also seeks to exempt public bodies from fines when they break the rules. No financial consequences are a recipe for disaster.” The bill will see state departments will be unaccountable for passing people’s personal data to others, from one department to another or from a department to private companies. This is unacceptable. Section 54 of the bill will seek to restrict the data rights of individuals regarding GDPR when the state deems at it sees fit, that they should be restricted. This is totally unacceptable. The bill will see that the government can process a person’s data contrary to GDPR where the ‘public interest’ is in question. In other words, Ignore data protection. This too is totally unacceptable. The bill will see allow the new Data Protection Commission to have a discretionary option to not investigate a complaint made to it, as it sees fit. This is just incredible unjust and unacceptable. From the expensive farce that is the Public Service Card (the national identity card in all but name) and its attached new national database, accessible by over 140 various state sections, to the giving away of people’s personal data to private companies like Seetec and Turas Nua in “JobPath”, the rights of the people of Ireland regarding their personal information are disgracefully being watered further down. We therefore call on you NOT to support the Dail passing of the Data Protection Act 2018. If you do this, it is a betrayal of the people of Ireland and an open disregard to the protection of their personal rights. Words by Jeff Rudd

Ireland is far too dependent on fossil fuels, and is not on target to meet it's Paris Climate agreements. It is vital that this be part of the clean energy portfolio as soon as possible. (Clarification and lots of facts here...)

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Temple Bar Food Market was set up 21 years ago by a group of growers and producers with a vision to bring Irish, artisan, local and high quality produce to a city centre location. These traders have committed to the market and seen it go from strength to strength over the years, with the support of customers old and new. With the dissolution of Temple Bar Cultural Trust, TBFM is now being run by Dublin City Council. Therefor Meeting House Square has gone from being private property to a public site, which requires all traders to acquire a casual trading licence to trade. Our current bye-laws were introduced by Dublin City Council on March 4th 2013. These bye-laws are now being reviewed by public consultation. Below are some of the new terms and conditions of trading. These T+Cs apply to all casual trading licences in the city - from bric a brac, to flowers, hawkers and food markets. Temple Bar Food Market is also subject to these, and clearly one size does not fit all! We are asking our customers to sign this petition in solidarity with traders to have our amendments considered and taken on board before these new bye-laws come into effect. They may seem like small insignificant details, but they have a huge impact on the running of small businesses and the food market as a whole. WHAT YOU CAN DO! Act now to help the market — sign the petition. We will include this act of support in our submission. Copy and paste our amendments below and send them as a submission with regards specifically to TBFM to [email protected] All this helps to make it clear we want the integrity of the market maintained under the hands of Dublin City Council! Deadline for submission: before 17.00 on Thursday 29th March, 2018 NEW TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF TRADING 1 "VACANT PITCHES Designated area trading pitch allocation policy Vacant pitches will be offered on a first come first served basis, except in the case of new areas which will be allocated by lottery." A first come first serve basis will not work for TBFM, nor a lottery system. We need a quality control measure whereby applicants need to show their high food standards. We also have a quota for hot food which is full, and so only grocery and produce based stalls should be considered until a hot food stall leaves. There has been an exception made for producers who are selling their own produce alongside a hot food offering - as this hot food offering helps to promote the product. i.e Broughgammon Butchers. Specific areas we are missing and would be welcome are: fishmonger, loose leaf tea, fermented goods 2 "PITCHES Pitch numbers according to DCC: 23" We have 22 pitches currently occupied - we have two pitches free. Therefore, the total number of pitches is 24. 4 "PRESENCE OF LICENCE HOLDER/STAFF A licence holder may nominate a maximum of two agents to assist in the operation of a designated trading stall under the following terms and conditions: (maximum now included) There may only be a maximum of two people operating the stall at any one time and each of them must be trading within one metre of the stall. (maximum now included) The licence holder must be present at all times where practicable. It is acceptable that the licence holder be absent during holiday periods or due to illness but this absence must be advised to the Casual Trading Section as soon as practically possible. Phone: 01-2222165 E-mail: [email protected]. A medical certificate is required for prolonged period of absence." Traders at TBFM would often have more than two staff members, or have rotating staff lists. It would be impractical to restrict a stall to two specific staff members or ‘agents.’ We would ask that this particular term be waived for the market. It is also impractical for the licence holder to be present at all times - with or without the excuse of illness. Many licence holders would be responsible for other markets on the same day, deliveries etc, and therefore leave their stall in the capable hands of staff. 5 "WASTE MANAGEMENT The removal of waste generated at each trading stall is the responsibility of the trader. Under the Waste Management Act 1996 traders have two options to dispose of their waste: Arrange for a private waste disposal company to do it. The trader can arrange to dispose of their waste in an alternative proper manner. Both options must comply with the Waste Management Act 1996 and relevant EU regulations/directives. Traders are reminded that when they are disposing of their waste and either fail to do so or do it in a way which infringes the Waste Management Act 1996 they are liable to be prosecuted by the local authority. Traders are also reminded of their responsibilities under the Protection of the Environment Act, 2003 and the Litter Pollution Act 1997." Currently TBFM waste disposal is organized by the management company employed by DCC. This includes public waste i.e. created by customers purchasing food at the market. This does not include personal waste, which traders already dispose of themselves. The traders would like to know who will be responsible for this public waste. The traders also wish to know if a management company will be kept in place after the introduction of the bye-laws - as much of the smooth running of the market relies on this. 6 "TRADING HOURS Saturdays Only : 7a.m.-9.45.a.m. for set up Trading hours 10 a.m.-4.30 pm. Pack up 4.30 p.m. -6.30 p.m." We would like our trading times changed to: Saturdays Only : 7a.m.-9a.m. for set up Trading hours 9 a.m.-5.00 p.m. Pack up 5.00 p.m.- 6.30 p.m. 7 "UNAUTHORISED ADS/BANNERS Attaching commercial advertisements or unauthorised banners or material to a stall is prohibited. (New)" Some traders at TBFM would use their stall as a notice board for outside events, workshops and other food related activities, both for themselves and to support others in the food industry.

Plastic is taking over our world. It's everywhere. Supermarkets cover everything in plastic, including fresh fruit and veg. 160,000 plastic bags are used globally every second! 5 trillion plastic bags are produced yearly. Side by side, they can encircle the world 7 times. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which is a floating landfill of garbage in the Pacific twice the size of Texas, is mostly composed of plastic. We want to reduce the use of plastic in the world, to protect the environment and particularly marine life.

The Government’s Strategic Communications Unit is a highly expensive PR Unit, paid for by the taxpayer for the benefit of the Taoiseach and Fine Gael. It is a slap in the face to the Irish taxpayer and it is not acceptable. We call on the Taoiseach to bin the spin - disband the Strategic Communications Unit immediately

“Climate change is real! Every country on Earth must come together now to do whatever we can now to protect the future of our planet. The Paris Agreement on Climate change is a good deal for Planet Earth, including the USA. Please sign this petition to President Trump and share it.” Nevan Corcoran (aged11) This petition was started by Nevan Corcoran, an 11-year-old boy from Lusk, Co Dublin, Ireland, worried that America is planning to pull out of The Paris Agreement on climate change. Dermot Higgins, who was Nevan's teacher, is nearly finished a massive cycle around the world to highlight climate change and plans to deliver the petition to The White House.

This new cost rental housing model would be a self-financing approach to housing, involving State provision of housing which would be made available for rent to a mixture of households on medium or high incomes as well as those on the social housing waiting list. It’s a model that caters for all. The current system is not working, the housing crisis is crippling the lives of individuals, families and communities. In 2017 local authority data show that 100,000 people are on waiting lists for social housing in Ireland. Already successfully rolled out in Denmark and Switzerland, this housing model is guaranteed and permanent. It provides security of tenure and will put an end to people living hostage to rapidly increasing private rental rates, to unsustainable mortgages, and to the risk of debt, eviction and homelessness. Public land should be used for public good, not for profit. Almost 6.1 billion of public money has been paid out in rent supplement to private landlords in the last 17 years, alternatively that could have built well over 30,000 homes.

The government is supposed to reach a decision in April 2018 on whether or not to grant a license for the right to mechanically harvest seaweed to a private Canadian company. The sale was complicated by a legality. The ownership of the right to harvest seaweed is currently under question. Traditionally local people, owned the rights to harvest seaweed and harvested it in a sustainable way. Mechanically harvesting seaweed is not environmentally sustainable and will have a serious impact on the ecology of the sea. Harvesting rights to seaweed belong to the people and should not be allowed to be sold off by the State for private profit. Seaweed is now a highly lucrative resource which should be harvested in a sustainable way for the benefit of the people of Ireland living now and for future generations.