No matter who we are or what we look like, we all deserve to live our lives without fear. But the handful of extremists who were behind the violence and hate in Belfast City Centre on Saturday have destroyed people’s livelihoods and left our Muslim neighbours terrified. They do not represent us, or the huge majority of people in Belfast, across Northern Ireland and beyond. We offer our support and respect and stand firmly with the Muslim community across Belfast and beyond, and all others impacted by racist hate on our streets.

The North Wall CTC has been closed since February 2020. Over the last four and a half years, it has become an eyesore to the surrounding areas. It is a prime example of the neglect and abandonment experienced throughout inner-city communities. This failure should not be allowed, and our community should not accept this either.  However, despite the unanimous agreement at the Dublin Docklands Oversight and Consultative Forum in September 2022 that the building should be repurposed for education and childcare needs, there has been a lack of drive or will to push through the necessary restoration works. The issue seems to have been dropped due to an estimated repair cost of approximately €3 million.  Since 2021, Mary Lou McDonald and Sinn  Féin have called for this site for public use, such as the after-school support programme. Utilising this site for childcare provisions or something similar will benefit the entire North Wall area community.  Our community deserves respect, and €3 million is a tiny expense compared to money  other government departments spend. The value of this building to the community as an amenity is worth multiple times the estimated costs for renovating it.  The North Wall community deserves to have this building refurbished and put directly to community use. The potential benefits include childcare, healthcare, training and education, a Men’s Shed, Senior Citizens centre and many more. The community now needs to drive this issue and demand these works occur.  If you support this campaign and wish to see positive investment in your community, please sign this petition. There will also be community days of action where we will call on the community to attend a demonstration outside the centre 

With your support we can petition the County Council and Library service to extend opening hours by showing the support locally for the service. 

No matter who we are or where we come from, all any of us want is to protect and take care of our families. Being evicted from the only shelter we have is cruel and heartless. 

"Kilkenny says No" is a group of people of far right ideology with ties to The Irish Freedom Party protesting a previously vacant building now intended to be used to accommodate IPAS residents. The GAA is Irelands largest sporting organisation and has a long history of being diverse and inclusive and the misuse of the county emblem is a disgrace.  Many supporters and players are people of colour and the GAA must take steps to seek the removal of the county emblem from hateful, racist social media profiles. The GAA continues to develop abroad, led by the Irish Diaspora with both regional and club units now well established in the United States, Australia, Britain, mainland Europe, Canada, Asia and many other parts of the world. 400 clubs promote the activities of the GAA around the world. Sign the petition to implore the GAA to address this misuse! 

People seeking refuge make up an important part of society, Irish people have flocked all over the world for generations and we cannot pull the ladder up behind us now that we are a thriving economy.  We want Kilkenny to be a safe and welcoming place for all residents.  We want Mayor Andrew McGuinness to very clearly state the differences between emergency accommodation for homeless people and the temporary accommodation provided during the asylum application process.  “An asylum seeker is a person who has left their country and is seeking protection from persecution and serious human rights violations in another country, but who hasn’t yet been legally recognized as a refugee and is waiting to receive a decision on their asylum claim. Seeking asylum is a human right. This means everyone should be allowed to enter another country to seek asylum. - Amnesty International” Emergency accommodation for homeless people is usually provided by County Councils and/or housing bodies. People seeking asylum are not taking a bed away from anyone and usually being accommodated in basic rooms like hotel rooms or previously empty buildings often without access to cooking or laundry facilities. People seeking asylum are not legally permitted to work during the asylum claim unless they have not recieved a first decision on their application for 6 months. They may recieve an expense allowance which is means tested. The rate for an adult is €38.80 per week (€5.54 per day) and are not entitled to recieve child benefit for their children.  People seeking refuge did not cause the housing crisis. A lack of investment in social housing and the overinflation of rental properties has. The reliance on private landlords through schemes like HAP have only encouraged this.  We have had a lack of investment in our health services for many years, not accepting new residents will not address this situation.  Please sign and share and let's make Kilkenny a safe and welcoming society again. 

Anyone who has seen our playground knows it needs improvement now! Broken equipment, crumbling astroturf, sharp corners and overgrown weeds just to mention a few points that lead to our only playground in the town to be a health and safety risk for our children. Our children deserve a safe and clean environment to play outdoors! The points mentioned above are proving this to be not the case therefore we implore you to do better for our community! The surrounding schools are more or less forced to use the playground for their July provisions on a daily basis because they have limited resources on the school grounds. The council have recently transformed the railway walk into a beautiful spot and we think our children would love the same care and effort put into improving their playground! Let's come together as a community and change this - Demand action to be taken immediately and improve the Ardee playground now!

Football unites us all. No matter who we are or where we come from, our beautiful game is for everyone, right across the world. While hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are under brutal attack by the IDF, Israel is allowed to continue to compete in football competitions.  Israeli players are not neutral -  joining the Israeli army is mandatory in order to become a football player in the national team, and Israeli players have proudly posted comments on social media such as “Why haven’t 200 tonnes of bombs already been dropped on Gaza?” and “We’ll erase Gaza permanently”, with no consequences imposed by the Israeli Football Association. [1] The chance to compete on the international stage is a privilege that should be reserved for states that do not commit genocide.  We, the undersigned, call on Interim FAI CEO David Courell to give the FAI’s support to the Palestinian Football Association’s call to suspend Israel from FIFA and UEFA.  Sources:  [1] FIFA's failure to ban Israel makes it complicit in Gaza genocide | The New Arab

Residents on IRP cards contribute a lot to taxes in Ireland and deserve the right to have a weekend away or holiday or travel for medical / family emergencies in the United Kingdom and Europe without hindrance. 

Being denied IVF treatment because of being HIV+ is discrimination and needs to change. HIV is no longer a death sentence illness. We have already gone through enough, and now being denied access to fertility treatments because of an archaic system is deeply unfair and further stigmatises people like me.  In countries across the EU, accessing fertility treatment as a HIV+ person is not an issue. In the past year people whose partners who are HIV+ can to access to IUI. This is amazing, but many of us need IVF for many other reasons.  I wrote about my experience in the Journal.ie https://www.thejournal.ie/hiv-women-ireland-6387696-Jul2024/ Listen to my interview on Cork 96 FM https://shows.acast.com/corks-96-fm-opinion-line/episodes/woman-with-hiv-on-struggle-to-get-fertility-treatment-in-ire

It has been established that a full 26% of Irish workers are considered the working poor, earning less than minimum wage,  another 28% earn between 15K and 30K.  More than half of the workforce. All of these workers are severely disadvantaged by the loophole in the legislation. 

Playgrounds are the heart of a community and an indispensable gathering space that can benefit everyone. They provide children the opportunity to practice and hone key skills including social, emotional, cognitive and physical.  Every estate should have playgrounds easily accessible to all children in the area.