A modern police force needs to be transparent and accountable. In light of the whistleblower, penalty points and breath tests scandals it is currently neither. If public confidence is to be somehow restored in the Gardai, Noirin O'Sullivan must resign.

On behalf of the DCU Students' Union, which consists of nearly 17,000 students, we are troubled by the new updates from Campus Residences Ltd., for the upcoming 2017/18 academic year. These include; - A 9% rent increase for Hampstead Accommodation. - An 11% rent increase for SPC and Larkfield Accommodation. This is a 49% rent increase in two academic years. I know that Campus Residences Ltd., only recently took it over but an 11% increase comparable to the quality of Larkfield accommodation type is unbelievable when you take into account the quality of accommodation provided on both campuses. - An 8% rent increase in some areas of Purcell House Accommodation. - That some rooms on Postgraduate Accommodation will see a 23% rent increase. It's hard enough to find accommodation for our students and for the college to drastically increase the cost of rent for our students at a time when we're having an accommodation crisis in Dublin shows a lack of compassion for the daily student struggles. We're asking Governing Body to come down from their Ivory Tower and realise that their demands are unrealistic and unfair.

Diesel Cars emit soot and NOx toxic fumes and are polluting our clean air and are bad for peoples' health. 70% of new cars purchased in Ireland are diesel - insane - due to the crazy Motor Tax Law that penalises older pre-2008 petrol cars but promotes purchase of new diesel cars. Paris to ban diesel cars from July 2017 ... many other cities to follow. Irish Motor Tax Law is regressive, 2-Tier and bad for your health. This Irish law puts high tax on pre-2008 cars and low tax on those who can afford new cars. It is socially divisive and totally unacceptable.

The CEO of An Post has said he will close over 250 post offices in sparsely populated areas, this year. This is totally unacceptable, it cannot be justified that because an area is sparsely populated, a post office is not necessary. It is more important than ever,as rural post offices are an essential part of the community, providing many services other than just to post letters. Among these are pensions, banking, phone top-up, paying bills, to name but a few. This is totally unacceptable. I live in Carrigaholt on the Loop Head Peninsula where our main industry is tourism. It is an area of approximately 1200 sq km, and unfortunately we fit the criteria. Our post office is already the only remaining one out of an original 5. People are already travelling over 15km to use it's services, and to expect them to journey even further is disgusting. I understand that An Post has to make money, but closing post offices and putting up postage is not the way. Install broadband in the post office, even more services can be accessed, more people will use the post office. If the paperwork is made redundant by the post office being "on-line" that alone will generate enough income to run the rural business. Carrigaholt Post Office is the heart of our village. It offers local and tourist information as well as the expected services, it is a meeting place where many go to socialise, it is so much more than is expected by An Post, but not by a rural community. The only time some people go out is to collect the pension and those that have to rely on others to get them there will be unable to collect it, or carry out other transactions if the nearest post office is even further away. It is no good telling us we can have our pensions paid into the bank as we have no permanent bank to do so, this also means travelling. Local businesses use the post office every day for things like coinage and fliers. They would be affected greatly by it's closure. To take away our post office would be to take the heart from our community. It would kill it! Whenever a business has to make "financial cuts", it's always the rural areas that are looked at first, not larger urban ones. This is because financially, country areas have very little to offer large corporate organisations. It matters nothing to these people that we are left with very little, or that to use the post office will involve over an hour's time to do the minimum business. What we do have though is our pride and affection for our local post office, and so now is the time to let the country know that we won't accept the closures!!

Bottled water is an invented consumer need.Thirty years ago the Irish public laughed at the idea of being sold a product that you could get from the tap for next to no cost. Today we feel as though bottled water is just a normal, or even essential, item to be included in our shopping baskets. In 2016, Irish consumers spent around €76.5 million on bottled water. We are sending about 800 million plastic bottles to be processed every year and are spending about €38 million annually on disposing of plastic bottles alone. This money could be used for investment in public drinking fountains, or for improving our public water infrastructure. By choosing to not consume bottled water, you will not only reduce the environmental impacts of plastics, but you will also eliminate a senseless daily expense. Plastic bottles pollute our oceans. About 80 percent of plastics found in our oceans come from land-based sources. In 2016, the United Nations World Oceans Assessment reported that as plastics entre the oceans they breakdown into microplastics. Plastics ingested by animals, such as fish, seabirds and marine mammals, can harm the intestines, and results in infection or death. Plastics also leach an assortment of dangerous chemicals into the water, and also act as a carrier for invasive species which can contaminate remote areas of the globe. The production and distribution of bottled water is a waste of resources. Research carried out by the Pacific Institute on the "energy implications of bottled water" in the United States worked out that bottled water is estimated to cost 2,000 times more than tap water to produce. The bottled water industry in the United States required an energy input equivalent to 54 million barrels of oil and roughly three times this amount is required to satisfy global bottled water demand. This adds around 2.5 million tons of carbon dioxide to our atmosphere every year. The high energy cost of bottling water is not the only way in which this industry is needlessly wasteful. One litre of bottled water takes three litres of water to be produced. Fresh safe drinking water is a valuable, and over exploited resource that every living organism on this planet depends upon. It is not an overstatement to argue that the continued use of single-use plastic water bottles should be considered nonsensical, wasteful and extraordinarily expensive. By eliminating bottled water from your shopping bag you are helping us move towards meeting four Sustainable Development Goals. Often the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals are thought of as only being relevant for protecting the most vulnerable ecosystems, and supporting the most disempowered communities, on our planet. People often forget that to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, social, economic and environmental problems that are endemic within western consumer-lead countries must be considered as integral to the project. Our seemingly inconsequential habits have direct effects on the health of the planet, and the livelihoods of some of the world's most vulnerable communities in the world. We need to become aware of the consequences of our actions, but we also need to be responsive, and take brave steps towards a truly sustainable future. Let's reduce our use of plastic bottles in Ireland, and all place pressure on the Irish government to stop selling, or providing, bottled water in public institutions. Don't Bottle It! Be Brave we can make this change.

MORE TRANSPORT LINKS NEEDED FOR CO LOUTH,TRAINS RUN THROUGH THE TOWN JUST NEED THEM TO STOP.

We finally have the government’s long overdue draft plan for how it will reduce climate pollution. We need this plan to be transformational. It’s far from it. But it can be. We have a lot to be proud of in terms of how people power is moving Ireland onto a more progressive path towards climate action. Ireland now has national Climate Legislation and we may become the first state to divest from fossil fuels and join the growing list of progressive nations to ban fracking. Hugely positive steps forward. But we are taking many steps backwards with the publication of the government’s draft plan for how they will cut our climate pollution by 80% by 2050. A transformational plan is what we need. It’s far from it unfortunately! The impacts of climate change today are already being felt today in Ireland, and across the world. Tell Minister Naughten to build on the really positive momentum we have created and give us a plan to reduce climate pollution that we can be proud of.

The list of weaponry and ammunition, tanks, military personnel that has come through Shannon airport over the last several years can be read on the Shannonwatch website. This information was only made public through a Freedom of Information request and despite this some details have been redacted, which means even our own government don't know what's coming through Shannon. With the recent bombing by the U.S. in Syria and the Russiian response, it is clear that events are developing at a fast pace. The only safe option for Irish people is to remain neutral and insist that our government doesn't compromise our safety by continuing to facilitate Trumps' war machinery.

People are losing contact with people leading to poorer mental health. Libraries are ideal places to have a chat with someone. Also working there is a lovely satisfying job.

Irish people are supportive of the idea of sponsoring refugee families. Let's start the ball rolling by offering Moussa and his family safety and urgent medical treatment to save his sight. They have already lost their home and live in horrific conditions in Lebanon where medical services are completely stretched. They are approved for resettlement but have not been offered a safe haven so far. This little boy needs urgent medical care which Ireland can provide, and he does not have time to waste. We have the capacity to sponsor this family and many of us are willing to do what we can financially, socially, emotionally to support this boy's family to get to Ireland. Let's make this happen for Moussa and start the important conversation about refugee family sponsorship in Ireland. https://www.facebook.com/Channel4News/videos/10154734027521939/

Bus Éireann is your bus company - owned by the Irish people, it is under massive attack from government, private competitors and sections of the media. Bus Éireann's current financial difficulties are the result of government policy which is being implemented by the National Transport Authority. Since 2011 the state subvention to Bus Éireann has been cut every year - last year it received just €34 million while Horse Racing Ireland received €60 million. Unless the government reverses its present policy, 2,500 jobs in Bus Éireann will be lost, with devastating results for workers and their families along with the hundreds of thousands of people around the country who depend on Bus Éireann to provide their transport needs. Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan will decide the future of your bus services. Let him know you want to ensure the survival of Bus Éireann and your local services. Let him know you support bus workers' rights and oppose cuts to pay and conditions.

Our international women's team is being treated very unfairly. The IFA are a wealthy organisation and have a duty to all players to treat them with respect and equality.