Direct Provision Centres are the accommodation provided to asylum seekers by the state (Citizensinformation.ie, 2021). A feature of the majority of these centres is that food is only available at set times, a breakfast, lunch, and evening meal (Citizensinformation.ie, 2021). This is highly problematic as the food is often inedible to the point that residents chose to skip the meal, meaning they are forced to go hungry (Barry, 2014). Similarly, any residents partaking in religious holidays such as Ramadan have no access to food at night when their fast is broken (Barry, 2014). Food is a human right, as is the availability and accessibility of it (OHCHR, 2021). By making healthy snacks constantly available to residents in Direct Provision Centres, many issues would be addressed in an easy and cost effective way. However, the emphasis is on healthy. Currently there are strict limits on access to fruit, and the food served is very high in salt, sugar, and fat (Barry, 2014). This cannot be the case for the accessible snacks as it would defeat the purpose. The White Paper was released in February and contains the government’s plan to abolish the Direct Provision system. While this is undoubtably a great step in the right direction, change is unlikely to occur before 2024 and these issues need to be addressed now. This petition is a call on Minister O’Gorman to enforce change in these centres immediately. The following links contain further, more detailed, information regarding the numerous nutritional issues faced by Asylum Seekers in Ireland: https://www.directprovision.org/copy-of-voices-in-dp https://nascireland.org/sites/default/files/WhatsFoodFINAL.pdf References: Barry, K. (2014) What’s Food Got To Do With It: Food Experiences of Asylum Seekers in Direct Provision. Nasc, the Irish Immigrant Support Centre. Citizensinformation.ie (2021) Direct provision system. Citizensinformation.ie. Available at: https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/moving_country/asylum_seekers_and_refugees/services_for_asylum_seekers_in_ireland/direct_provision.html OHCHR | OHCHR and the right to food (2021). Available at: https://www.ohchr.org/En/Issues/ESCR/Pages/food.aspx

Support to alleviate continuous sufferings of the Undocumented people

It is important because chickens should be treated in this way

So that Children's referred appointments and elective surgeries do not turn into emergencies.

This Pilgrim Path has been walked for generations and it is inconceivable that access could be stopped now.

Repeated attempts to "live" with COVID-19 and to "balance lives and livelihoods" have failed, manifesting in the Governments in both Dublin and Stormont putting commercial interests ahead of the health of their people. We feel at this point there is surely no other game in town. We have been told repeatedly by public health experts that we cannot put all of our eggs in one (vaccine) basket. It is now time for the the trade union movement to act as the vehicle to deliver the utmost focus on public health and cooperation that is required from both administrations. We are calling on the Executives of ICTU and NIC-ICTU to formally adapt the 'Zero Covid' position and to use all of the tools at its disposal to bring the respective administrations in line.

We the Irish people who pay the salaries of the give every have the right to decide who governs our nation. We are now faced with a government who have shown lack of compassion and care towards the Irish people as a whole. They have proved they are not trustworthy or capable of governing this country. We the Irish people voted for change in February 2020 and this has been denied by the current cabinet. We deserve the change that was voted for. Our health system is at its knees, our housing is in a state of emergency and in need of a sensible but compassionate approach. Our elderly are being robbed of what they worked all their lives to earn, those who refuse to work are being rewarded heavily through social welfare. A reform of the entire system is needed. Our rural communities are at their knees, almost at the point of extinction. Crime is at an all time high in this country and the Garda are without the powers to enforce the rule of law.

To keep kids and teens off the streets

DCC’s current proposal to close the northbound lane of Strand/Beach Roads will not work for the following reasons: 1. Traffic congestion DCC has not explained how northbound traffic, with particular reference to industrial and commercial traffic, is to access Dublin Port, the East Link Bridge, the Dublin Port Tunnel, and the recycling centre. Nor has it addressed the extreme limitations of residential roads, in particular the bottleneck of the narrow and already overloaded Church Avenue at Irishtown, through which all the northbound traffic will need to find its way. DCC’s own data predicts traffic increases of 110% on Merrion Road and up to 322% in Sandymount. Areas such as Donnybrook, Ballsbridge and Irishtown will also be impacted. 2. Environment Increases in air pollution caused by this predicted congestion will have a negative impact on air quality for the residents in the impacted areas. Idling traffic sitting in congested roads emits more pollution than traffic which moves freely. 3. Safety DCC’s proposal calls for making the northbound lane on Strand Road run south. This goes against what is expected, and may lead to accidents as people “look” the wrong way when they join this one-way route. Similarly for pedestrians crossing Strand Road. Displaced traffic from Strand Road will be pushed into Sandymount Village, making it less safe for pedestrians, many of whom are vulnerable and cyclists. 4. Parking There will be a loss of car parking on Strand Road when the design of the scheme is further developed as large sections of Strand Road are not wide enough for a 2-way cycle lane, single lane of traffic and formal parking. 5. Urban Planning Which route will trucks and lorries take for the proposed builds at Maxol Beach Road (90 homes); Poolbeg former Glass Bottle site (3,600 homes) and Roslyn Park Secondary School Strand Road (1500 students)? Why are DCC and the NTA insistent on 'trialling' a one-way Strand Road Scheme that has maximum traffic disruptions (including displacing Commerical/Industrial and non-local traffic onto residential roads & impacts across South East Dublin communities) and not working together to agree on a Permanent Cycle Path solution? https://twitter.com/community_stc/status/1330578558721404933 https://twitter.com/community_stc/status/1328759106916773889)

Young people desperately need sports and activities for their physical and mental well being. Taking their games and activities away from them has been cruel and damaging especially given that we have yet to hear any data linking stopping juvenile sports and halting the spread of the virus.

Nurses are stretched beyond capacity during this pandemic. We have stood and given then an applause, but tgat is not enough. To expect them to pay €100 to allow them work is unfair. Please waiver the fee until 2022.

Across Ireland students are struggling to adapt to online learning. Even those with decent broadband and working computers are reporting difficulty keeping up and paying attention. Pre-recorded lectures with little interaction leave lecturers seeming even less approachable than before, courses which previously had time allocated to practical sessions now have significantly less or none at all. All of this, on top of the loneliness students are facing as they remain isolated from their peers, results in a massive decline in the quality of our education. We are left feeling like we are paying for the opportunity to teach ourselves. This is unacceptable. All this when the North of Ireland ranks within the top 10 of countries with highest student fees in Europe. Stormont have taken no measures to aid the situation, instead opting to leave it up to the discretion of the institution on whether or not students receive any aid at all. Students who paid for accommodation only to learn that all their classes would be online deserve better. Students who are teaching themselves and feel as if they’re attending “YouTube University” deserve better. Students without strong broadband who are forced to rely on mobile data deserve better. Many of the facilities that our fees are supposed to be paying for are closed, while we still pay the same amount as last year. We demand a full refund of fees this year, and that the Department for the Economy begin to seriously consider the abolition of tuition fees. Education is a human right, and it’s high time it be treated as such. After signing this petition please share your online learning story with #WhatAmIPayingFor, and don’t forget to tag Diane Dodds, Arlene Foster, Michelle O’Neill, the Department for the Economy and your local MLAs and/or MPs! After you've done that, we encourage you to join catuireland.org, a tenant & community action union that's taking on landlords who are taking the piss. Finally, we're organising an open Zoom meeting to discuss further campaigns, actions and occupations that can take place to fight for our fees. Join us on the 3rd of December at 6 pm here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUvceCorz4rGdcVB0A01oKRAGT6wtOte2Hj