1- Liveaboards create vibrant communities and safe spaces across canals and rivers, enhancing the charm and character of our Waterways for locals and tourists alike. 2- Houseboats are greener, reducing our ecological footprint and use of valuable resources like water, energy, waste, transport among others. Now more than ever, it's time to think about the positive changes we can make to protect our planet. 3- Liveaboards communities and policies have been successfully implemented across several European countries except Ireland currently facing a rising demand for residential and affordable housing. 4- Traditionally, people have been living in boats on Irish waterways and, for just as long, the Waterways authorities have been ignoring the matter. Basically a blind eye was turned to liveaboards 5- There are only 20 residential berths in Grand Canal Dock and a further 8 in Shannon Harbour. There are no residential berths available at any other locations and there are no residential berths available at this time.

The current curriculum is falling short for students. There is little coverage on safe sex for non-heterosexual people, sexual consent for all ages or inclusivity for transgender and non-binary people. The repercussions of a poor sex education is harmful for all students.

Co-living cannot provide safe and affordable housing for people - the housing model makes social distancing and self isolation impossible - communal kitchens and living areas shared by up to 40 people make it impossible to prevent exposure to an unseen deadly virus. In Ireland we have seen how congregated housing such as care centres, nursing homes and direct provision has put people at risk during the Covid-19 pandemic. It is with great urgency that NPHET must recommend to the Minister for Housing that the 2018 Planning guidelines that allow for Co-Living be suspended until the impact of pandemics on this type of living and the risks posed are fully understood.

What will be the future of our children? By 2030, 1 out of 4 people will live in poor housing conditions. The fast-moving challenge posed by the COVID-19 pandemic adds another urgent reason to ensure that people can shelter at home and protect their health and families. In Europe today, young people cannot afford to rent a flat in many cities; and a growing number of families cannot pay their heating and cooling bills. Globally, more than half of the urban population lives in slums. Proper housing is a matter of life and death in the current pandemic as people are asked to stay at home to protect themselves against the coronavirus. Home has become more important than ever, and the European Union has a role to play. Join Habitat for Humanity and partner organizations all over Europe in calling on the EU to: · Prioritize affordable housing in the next EU budget for 2021-27, particularly for countries in the global South. · Increase funding for access to water and sanitation and for slum upgrading to protect communities against diseases. · Address energy poverty in the European Green Deal with concrete financial measures. Situation Many countries are unprepared and unable to meet the growing housing needs of urban residents. The expected global population increase of 1,18 billion combined with the existing global housing need, means that approximately 2 billion people will be in need of adequate housing in 2030. This creates an unprecedented housing challenge. Without adequate and affordable housing; without land rights, more and more families are at risk of poverty and insecurity. The current coronavirus pandemic has highlighted importance of housing as the means of protection against deadly diseases. A proper home has become the most important remedy. But it is not accessible to all. Habitat for Humanity works for access to decent housing because it is foundational to individuals and families, to the communities in which we live and to the economies in which we all participate.

Add visually to the area . Breath life into the canals . Prevent antisocial behavior in portobello and all along our canals . Asking Waterways Ireland to deliver on their mission statement.

Facebook must do more to stop Donald Trump. His infamous Twitter posts are cross-posted to Facebook and not being moderated or reviewed. [2] Now, he's throwing money behind ads with Nazi symbols targeting our communities -> https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/18/tech/facebook-trump-ads-triangle-takedown/index.html Facebook employees organised a virtual walk out in protest over the lack of moderation on his hateful posts. [3] Calls for advertising boycotts are heating up. [4] It's time Facebook took action, and either kick Trump off Facebook, or moderate his posts and stop taking his money to spread hate. Sources [1] https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/may/28/zuckerberg-facebook-police-online-speech-trump [2] https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/03/facebook-oversight-board-wont-review-trumps-shooting-starts-posts.html [3] https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/01/facebook-employees-stage-virtual-walkout-over-trump-post-moderation.html [4] https://eu.usatoday.com/story/tech/2020/06/17/facebook-hate-speech-civil-rights-groups-call-advertising-boycott/3207915001/

The Minister for Education has said the money is not available for 97,000 children in Northern Ireland to continue getting free school meals over the summer. Boris Johnson has just U-turned and announced free school meals over the summer for eligible children in England. Scotland and Wales have similar schemes in place. Say no to #holidayhunger

This is the statement made by the family who are asking for our support "We have all been living through our own personal hell. We are relieved that justice has been done and that the crimes committed against us as children are no longer hidden or denied by anybody. No more needs to be said about the hell we have lived through and somehow survived. But more does need to be said about how it was allowed to happen. We are left with many questions, and we need answers. Where were the different parts of the state when we as vulnerable and defenceless children needed protection? How could schools, social workers, medical professionals and all the other people who had a so-called ‘duty of care’ turn their back and look the other way – time after time as the evidence was piling up and hitting them in the face? We were vulnerable Traveller children, forced to live on the edges of Irish society, already looked down, discriminated against and denied our basic human rights. Does this denial of our rights extend also to the right to protection and welfare as children? Would the same state neglect, the same agreement that nobody should say a word, the same ability to turn the blind eye have been evident if this had been a respected settled family in Ireland? God knows we know that what we had to suffer could have happened in any family in Ireland. But we also know that the response of the state would have been different and there is a good chance that much of the suffering could have been spared or avoided. We are asking you not to ask ‘how could this happen in a Traveller family’. Do ask ‘how could this happen in any family? But also ask ‘were we not protected because we were Travellers?" Tipperary Rural Travellers Project publicly state our support for the Reilly family in the wake of the court judgement that found their father guilty of rape and sexual assault of his sister and seven daughters. We cannot even begin to imagine the pain and trauma the family has endured, and we want also to commend the Reilly women in the courage, determination and humanity they have shown under such terrible circumstances. We sincerely hope that their courage can provide some inspiration and encouragement for others who suffer abuse and trauma from such circumstances. https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/sexual-abuse-victims-ask-were-they-less-protected-because-they-were-travellers-1005362.html

Children as young as six years old often show prejudiced attitudes towards people of other ethnic groups. This is especially true with White children who tend to display more racial bias than other groups. Racially-biased children may grow up to be prejudiced adults and this contributes to racism in our society. Children will "naturally" grow up to be non-racist adults only when they live in a non-racist society. Until then, adults must guide children's antiracist development. It is therefore incredibly important that education about race and racism is begun at the earliest stage possible, and continued throughout children’s time in the education system.

Black people around the world have been subject to colonial rule, the atrocities of the transatlantic slave trade, and the effects of white supremacy culture. Capitalism and the immense wealth of the global north was built on stolen labor, ongoing colonisation and violent dispossession at the hand of white supremacy against people of African descent and Indigenous peoples. The condition of Black and Indigenous people and throughout the world today must be placed in its proper historical context. The recent grassroots uprisings across the globe are powerful and demonstrate how fed up Black communities are with systemic oppression and racism. These protests demand not just an end to Black suffering and death but a commitment to help Black people live and thrive, to shift from a world centered on white supremacy and violence to one grounded in equity and justice. This moment demands that each of us—especially those of us who are not Black or Indigenous—act with great urgency in defense of Black lives, to support the work of ending police brutality and white supremacy, and to bring forth a world in which Black people are truly free and liberated. While the Black experience and fight for justice around the world are as varied and diverse as Black people themselves, we stand in solidarity with the Movement for Black Lives and call on elected leaders around the globe to end the war against Black people.

Fredrick Douglas escaped slavery in the US and became a leading speaker and writer in the abolitionist movement. He spent time in Ireland where he campaigned for support to end slavery. He also joined in the call to end British colonialism of Ireland. A statue of Fredrick Doughlas would serve to keep the spotlight on modern day slavery and the struggle to end racism for all.

I am writing to you today as a primary school teacher, and more importantly as a mother of two young boys who are disabled. My four year old is a full-time wheelchair user and we are unsure yet as to whether his younger brother will also require a wheelchair. My boys are both bright, intelligent, inquisitive children who are highly sociable. In light of current events during this pandemic, I have seen so many parents and teachers discuss how this may impact our kids and the overwhelming consensus amongst us all have been concerns regarding the possible implications on their social development as they cannot play with their friends, explore nature, play freely and make new friends at local playgrounds etc. It has really made me stop and think as these have been ongoing concerns of mine due to our sons’ mobility needs. The truth of it is, we have found it very difficult to find playgrounds where Oscar can play. As well as not having any wheelchair friendly equipment for use, many playgrounds have completely inaccessible ground coverings like tree bark. I’m a firm believer that if I have an issue with something, I will try to offer alternative suggestions in order to help resolve said issue. A simple Google image search for ‘wheelchair friendly activities in playground’ yields a plethora of equipment that is accessible not only for users of wheelchairs, walkers and buggies, but also for children without disabilities. Slieve Gullion Forest Park is close to where we live and would be the best we have experienced. It’s not lost on me that this particular playground is in Northern Ireland, where the UK has much stricter protocol for accessible planning regulations. Within my local area in recent times, I’ve seen two new playgrounds built, one completely inaccessible to wheelchairs due to the bark surfaces and use of steep hills in its designs. It absolutely baffles me how in these times when we are seemingly a progressive country, that we completely omit the needs and right to play of a whole category of children. We teach inclusion and diversity in our schools every day, yet when this is not practised by our leaders, it is unforgiveable. We cannot accept this as an oversight any longer, we cannot accept the meagre list of accessible playgrounds dotted few and far between across the entire country. There is very little opportunity for a family to engage in a spontaneous stop-off at the playground when the statistics show that the playground will more than likely be inaccessible for the disabled child. Accessibility needs to be engrained within everything we plan for our public spaces. Untold damage is being done to our disabled children when they are being excluded and made to feel less than in their own hometowns. - Article 31 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child states that: “Every child is entitled to rest and play and to have the chance to join in a wide range of activities including cultural and artistic activities.” - Article 30(5d) of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities states that “children with disabilities should have equal access with other children to participation in play, recreation and leisure and sporting activities, including those activities in the school system.” Outdoor natural areas are another area which raise accessible issues within the disability community. I can only speak from my own experience, as an avid nature lover and mother to two children with mobility needs. I understand that the natural world is best left to its own devices and can be highly inaccessible. However, a lot of our natural amenities that are open to the public have some sort of surface laid down as a path for the public to use. Why not go one step further and make sure that surface is also wheelchair friendly? The choice of what gravel is used can make all the difference for wheelchair users’ accessibility. The Irish Wheelchair Association has published a guide called The Great Outdoors which provides excellent detail. As an island country, our beaches are areas of beauty which everyone should be able to access, and not just from the side-lines. Beach wheelchairs are available at some sites, but not nearly enough, particularly at times of the year when they are in high demand. Availability of sand mats such as Access Trax would open up access immensely. “Foldable, lightweight, portable pathways for accessibility over outdoor terrain” would allow wheelchair users to roll right onto the beach as well as walking mobility aids, buggies and prams. - Article 30 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities recognises that disabled people should “Enjoy access to places for cultural performances or services, such as theatres, museums, cinemas, libraries and tourism services, and, as far as possible, enjoy access to monuments and sites of national cultural importance.” As an educator and a parent, all I want is for my children to be allowed every and equal opportunity to thrive and make their mark on the world. I am available for any discussion should you wish, but I would ask you to note that I am just one voice of many. My voice pertains to my experience as a parent of my disabled children. There are many voices of other parents , but most importantly voices of disabled adults who have lived through experiences of being excluded and treated differently and unfairly. This is only one area of accessibility we have come up against, and unfortunately, I am not naïve enough to hope that it is our last.