Irish greyhounds are being killed in Irish pounds. Some as young as one or two years of age. Others are sent to Asia to be tortured, clubbed, beaten to death, to be skinned alive, eaten after being boiled alive, raced to death, bred to death . TDs deny any cruelty. The government spent millions in the last budget propping up this vile industry as people die on our streets and families cant get homes.

I object to having my children unavoidably exposed to alcohol and alcohol related advertising in convenience stores. Alcohol is well know to have many negative affects on the health and judgement of teenagers, and most problem drinkers start drinking young. Alcohol marketers direct advertising at them with the aim of gaining lifelong loyal customers. These companies are well know as the best and most effective advertisers in the world. Why is it that children cannot enter dedicated off-licenses but convenience stores like these are free to place their alcohol sections so that children cannot avoid them?

We are drowning in plastic. RTE should lead by example. If you do this it will inspire others too.

This train would provide an important morning link from the Bagenalstown area to Dublin. The 6.00am Waterford train is widely used and there is a real need for improving the service in the area. There is currently only a single morning service that can be used by commuters. The additional stop would have a minimal impact on arrival time (approx 2mins) and the 7.10am train currently carries less passengers than the 6am or 7.50am train. With Dublin rent pressures more and more workers are undertaking long commutes small changes like this can have a big impact on a rural area.

Despite little information being given to the public throughout the rezoning and planning permission process, the public - which includes those living directly within the vicinity of the site as well as residents within town - have expressed both formally (through submissions) and informally (through public meetings) a number of concerns and objections to the factory. These concerns have been largely left unaddressed and it is for this reason that we demand the halting of the factory's development and the appeal of planning permission for the project. We are concerned about the overall lack of accessible information given to us surrounding the project. Land was rezoned in Poundlick, Skibbereen in April 2016 from "Town Greenbelt" to "Business Use," in order to allow the factory to be built. The rezoning occurred following an inadequate public consultation process, which consisted of one advertisement on p. 33 of the Irish Examiner print edition on February 10, 2016. While this one ad formally commenced the public consultation process, this does not constitute as clear, adequate, or accessible notification. Given that not a single submission was made by a resident of Skibbereen in response to the land rezoning, it is evident that the residents of Skibbereen did not access this information, which is understandable given its singular and obscure location. We should also be able to rely on our elected representatives to communicate such vital information to us in a widely accessible manner. Similarly, those living in the vicinity of the site were only informed that planning permission was sought after PLANNING notices went up at access points to the site. Again, this is an inadequate format for disseminating information, which has severely stunted the public consultation and engagement process on this matter, and means that our informed consent cannot be given. In addition to the poor process of public consultation and notification, our concerns circulate around our health; the environment (no Environmental Impact Assessment has been undertaken and nor has the County Council requested this!); our property value; the traffic that will result; the amount of topsoil that will be removed; the rezoning of land for industry amidst a housing shortage; the lack of consultation with a retirement home in the vicinity. A plastics factory was sued in Athlone in 2005 following a number of health hazards it created within the community, and should such a case be necessary in Skibbereen, this will come at great financial and time cost to our town's residents.]

While the current €80 fixed charge fine ensures that some people don’t misuse disabled parking spaces, it’s clearly not enough of a deterrent. We need to root out this practice which causes real inconvenience for people who actually rely on disabled parking spots.

An Taoiseach is our representative abroad. When he accepts prejudice, racism and bigotry, it shames the people of our country. We feel that such an alliance is not good for our country's reputation and undermines our relationship with other countries. Trump is a despicable human being. A point must be reached where falling at the foot of a powerful man, at the expense of our values and morals and international reputation is not acceptable! "'Shame'rock for Trump: Not in our Name"

Eirgrid has an important job to ensure our energy needs are met. However this can not be at any cost. The only issue of placing lines underground for Eirgrid is an increase in cost. Surely protecting our beautiful country is worth the increase in cost. It is also important to protect important landmarks, such as the Hill of Tara, which is seeking UNESCO status. It is time to start looking to the future and build the Interconnector and other national projects underground where they will be safe from storms, and keep our country beautiful for the next generations (and tourists).

72% of sampled Irish drinking water is contaminated by microplastics [1]. Fish that we eat have been shown to have consumed plastics [2]. We are eating and drinking tiny fragments of plastic - this has become a human health issue of massive proportions. The Government promised to ban microplastics within a year in 2016, but we are still waiting. [3] Countries all over the world are taking action, and we can too. Richard Bruton, it's time to take decisive action and ban all products containing microplastics! We're asking Richard Bruton to follow the lead of other countries across Europe and put in place a ban on the manufacture and sale of plastic microbeads in this country. They do not biodegrade and persist for a very long time in the environment,[1] https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/our-drinking-water-is-widely-contaminated-with-tiny-bits-of-plastic-36104664.html [2] https://theconversation.com/bait-and-switch-anchovies-eat-plastic-because-it-smells-like-prey-81607 [3] http://www.thejournal.ie/readme/micro-beads-there-will-be-more-waste-plastic-in-the-ocean-than-fish-by-2050-3667684-Oct2017/

Ireland is the EU’s top producer of plastic waste. In 2015, we produced 61kg of plastic per inhabitant (http://jrnl.ie/3786393). Despite what you might think, takeaway cups are neither recyclable nor compostable. This means that approximately 200 million takeaway cups are dumped in landfill or incinerated in Ireland each year (https://consciouscup.ie). Cork City Council just banned single use non-recyclable cups, and council workers are being encouraged to use reusable cups (https://yaycork.ie/2018/01/10/cork-city-council-banned-disposable-coffee-cups/).

We are drowning in plastic and every year we dump millions of non recyclable cups every year. Cork City Council just banned non recyclable cups - why can't Cork County Council!

Due to the new National Children's Hospital, the congestion is only going to get worse. It is incumbent on DCC to provide accessible residential parking and implement deterrents for non residents.