Despite requests, the Leaving Cert art curriculum has not been revised since 1972. Leaving Cert Art itself is not required or recognised as entry to 3rd level art college (matriculation), students must produce an additional portfolio of artwork, putting extra financial and time pressure on them and their parents during the stressful Leaving Cert year. Art is the most difficult of all 32 Leaving Cert subjects to achieve an A1 grade at higher level. In 2016, students were four times more likely to get an A in higher level physics than in higher level art and seven times more likely to get an A in ordinary level physics than in ordinary level art. Candidates at ordinary level experience the inequity of the current system, in 2016, 1011 male students took ordinary level art in the Leaving Cert, only one of them achieved an A1 grade. Art History and Appreciation makes up 37.5% of the Leaving Cert art exam, students are expected to study the history of European and Irish art, craft and design from c.3200 BC to the present day in approximately 44 hours. For all these reasons the number of students choosing art at Leaving Cert is falling, from 10,783 in 2011 to 9,747 in 2016. This decline will have a knock on negative effect on third level art and design education and ultimately on the creative sectors who contribute so significantly to our wider economy, society and culture. It is essential that the Department of Education, National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) and State Examination Commission (SEC) work together with art teachers, parent and student groups and relevant stakeholders in culture and industry to design and implement a new Leaving Cert curriculum, not simply assessment reform. For more facts and figures about the ⌗stateoftheart campaign and the Leaving Certificate art curriculum visit our website http://www.artteachers.ie/ or follow us on social media.

Dublin Bus drivers have worked hard over the last eight years to return Dublin Bus to profit, they are a vital asset to the city and deserve a decent wage. Workers can no longer be left at the back of the queue while Dublin Bus makes a profit. It's essential that they show worker's enough respect to meet them face to face and hear their demands. Sign the petition today to show your solidarity with Dublin Bus drivers.

Irish Sign Language is an everyday language used by approximately six thousand citizens of the Republic of Ireland, mostly Deaf and hard of hearing. Unlike English, Irish Sign Language is a language which is indigenous to the island of Ireland, a language that has been evolved over the centuries. For several decades, Irish Sign Language has never been respected as a language. It has been reported that the users of the language have very little access to information in that language. They often have no choice but to use either of the current official languages, namely Irish and English, languages that are not in their mother tongue. Not to mention, the Articles 9, 21 and 30 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, of which Ireland has been among the signatories since 1992, explicitly recognises the importance of a sign language with regard to the accessibility, freedom of expression, the participation in the cultural life of a Deaf or Hard of Hearing person. Thus, recognising Irish Sign Language as a third official language of the State would render the society far more equal than it is now. Ireland is our home and there's no place like home! Extend our arms to our fellow citizens using Irish Sign Language in their homes.

Each year tens of thousands of live farm animals are shipped overseas from Ireland to countries that have little or no animal welfare laws. Loaded onto crowded trucks and planes, their gruelling journeys can take days or weeks only to be slaughtered at their destination. Many animals, such as calves and lambs, suffer stress and exhaustion, hunger, thirst and rough handling - some even die in transit. In this instance 1,700 lambs were being shipped to Singapore to be slaughtered in the Hari Raya Haji celebration. 121 lambs died during the journey, the cause of death believed to be heat stress.

Ireland's 1993 Commission on the Rights of People with Disabilities made a statement that sadly still rings true today: "People with disabilities are the neglected citizens of Ireland... [but] they want, and are entitled to, equality and full participation as citizens." In 2016 we’re still waiting to see full equality on our public transport systems. This is especially true of DART services, which are riddled with accessibility problems. But it's time for us to say enough is enough. The Disability Federation of Ireland estimates that there are over 160,000 people with a disability in the Dublin area. On top of having to cope with various medical conditions, that's 160,000 potential DART-users relying on - lifts that are often out of order - platform ramps onto the train that don't work or don't exist - live travel information that is inaccurate or inaccessible - trained station assistants who aren't available in all stations Each of these factors makes even the most basic journeys a headache to organise, and sometimes impossible! But all of these issues could be easily fixed if the government made them a priority. Let's raise our voice for disability rights now. Call on the government to fix these issues and make DART services fully accessible for people with a disability. Disability Rights Now is a People Before Profit campaign chaired by Richard Boyd Barrett and based on the feedback of local disability rights activists in the Dun Laoghaire area.

We all have a right to adequate access to drinking water. The UN has told the Irish state that according to international human rights law, all levels of government are under an obligation to provide urgent measures, including financial assistance, to ensure access to affordable housing, and essential levels of drinking water and sanitation services.

As Welfare Officer in DCUSU, I have received endless complaints of Academy Walk Management and Lettings Ltd keeping €500 deposits if a student backs out, despite having a waiting list, and providing extortionate fines for ludicrous instances. These include taking a resident's bike claiming that he parked it on private property, charging €100 fine for having a can of Coke and a packet of cigarettes on the ground for a 'fire hazard' and charging up to €500 for having friends over at a variety of times. All provided by students in emails and reviews on Google. It started with keeping the deposits ''because they can''. It escalated with the unnecessary and extortionate fines. We the students are not here to fuel the pockets of the rich and demand better. We demand that Academy Walk Management and Lettings Ltd end operations in Hazelwood and that the landlords operating under their services go to a more student friendly service such as Mike Harrington Property Management immediately.

Only 13% of Travellers complete formal education in comparison with 92% of the general population. 7 out of 10 Traveller children live in families where their mother has no formal education or primary level education only. By refusing Paddy entry to secondary school the message is being sent to all Traveller children that they are not wanted. His parents can not read or write - they didn't understand that there was a cut off point. Being refused entry will have a terrible effect on his live and future prospects. http://www.rte.ie/news/2016/0829/812760-traveller-school/

Merlin Park meadows has been conserved as a public amenity space for many generations and is a vital green space for the people of Galway. With 84 acres of land already zoned for development within the Merlin Park hospital complex, it will have an adverse impact on the community - once it is gone, it can never be replaced. With the expansion of housing and commercial lands surrounding the area, it is a healthy environment for the ever increasing population who depend on it as an escape from polluted environments, a place for mental relaxation and physical activity. Along with the Merlin Park Woods it is the only known habitat in the city where Red Squirrel are thriving and sightings from other areas of the city are of roadkill. It is home to thousands of mammals and wildlife species such as butterflies, bumblebees and dragonflies providing a safe haven for them with huge declines in the number of these species and many threatened species in recent years. It is home to a variety of Orchids and wildflowers similar to the protected Burren in Co Clare. This is a very unique meadow within the city of Galway and is totally natural. Galway has been awarded the European Green Leaf Award for 2017, to allow development on public land and destroy this meadow would totally go against this.

The decisions that in amateur sport of boxing are making a mockery of the sport. How can one country appoint 7 of its own members into a committee into a ruling body and then make a decision that no boxer can make inquiry into the decision that has been made. Just look at the decisions that were made in the so called fair Olympics. A complete mockery of boxing is going on and has to be stopped before amateur boxing is destroyed.

Ireland has the capacity and resources to offer hundreds of unaccompanied children refuge. We have one of the strongest care systems in Europe to deal with unaccompanied minors and therefore, the potential to offer these children homes, a sense of community, support and a future (3).

Thanks to anti-apartheid activism by Mary Robinson and others, in the 1980s Trinity College ended research ties with South African universities until equality was introduced and human rights were respected in that country. Now, in 2016, ordinary Palestinians face discrimination and upheaval from Israel on a constant basis. Speaking in July about the devastation inflicted on Gaza, outgoing UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon described Israel's policies against the Palestinian people as collective punishment. The situation for ordinary Arab families living in Israel and Palestine is heartbreaking! But we can take a stand for Palestinian rights. TCD's research partners in Israel in the past have included the weapons manufacturer Elbit Security Systems and The Israeli Security and Counter-Terrorism Academy. Today, Trinity's strongest links are with the Weizmann Institute of Science and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, which has built part of its campus on illegal settlement lands. It's time to take a stand for Palestine! Mary Robinson is a champion of global justice, but she's also the Chancellor of TCD, University of Dublin. Call on her to bring an end to research ties between TCD and Israel until the human rights of Palestinians are respected.