We had a child run out the gate of the green after their dog straight into an oncoming car - luckily this time the driver was driving slowly within the 30km limit and was able to stop safely.

This petition is to call for the cancelation of this seasons TV show that is a truly disappointing, disrespectful and misleading reflection on life in a maternity hospital during this pandemic. Filming took place across 11 months (Nov 20 – Sept 21) when maternity restrictions were at their worst. Despite this The Rotunda have defended filming by saying there were minimal numbers of crew on site at all times. We have heard many many accounts from people in antenatal clinic waiting rooms seeing producers trying to recruit expectant mothers for this show. The show featured all mothers with their birthing partners where as the reality is vastly different. An official statement from RTE states that “this documentary was to authentically tell the stories or mother and their partners”. This show didn't once show these amazing women alone, alone in their scans, alone waiting in physical and emotional pain in A & E, alone receiving heart-breaking news, alone with the limited time they can spend with their babies in NICU, alone meeting their babies for the first time in NICU, alone in their rooms trying to stand up out of bed to comfort, feed , care for their babies after recovering from major surgery. Alone waiting for that door to open to answer their bell from the under resourced care team doing their best to answer every call to provide the essential support which partners could be providing. Alone waiting patiently for the porter to take them down to NICU to see their baby. Alone trying to finalise their beautiful new baby’s name, alone answering questions and taking in complex information on their baby’s status, test results and feeding plan. This purpose of this petition is not to take away from all of the beautiful babies born over the last 18 months or their even more amazing mothers. Nor does this petition intend to take away from the enormous credit due to the dedicated hard working staff of the Rotunda who patients and their families are eternality grateful for.

Apart from the stress that the system is putting on young adults, it's also a system that is not rewarding them justly or preparing them adequately for life after school

In every public toilet, we can avail of free toilet roll, hand soap and hand towels - what makes period products any different? We firmly believe that any toilet that requires toilet roll, requires period products in exactly the same way. For too long our menstrual needs have been sidelined, and for too long we have been conditioned to use toilet roll as a temporary measure when we take our periods unexpectedly outside the home. In fact, 98% of those we surveyed have had to use toilet paper and expressed feelings of discomfort, worry and anxiety as a result of this risky alternative. Period poverty is prevalent throughout N Ireland. We have seen an exponential increase throughout the pandemic and lockdown, receiving three times the demand for our period packs. The provision of free period products in all toilets will help alleviate the growing issue of period poverty and will also help meet the needs of all those who menstruate when their periods are unpredictable. No more being caught out and no more period poverty. Everyone deserves to have a dignified period. We are calling on the NI Executive to lock the provision of free period products into legislation so that every toilet, in every public and privately owned building, has free pads and tampons for everyone. Just. Like. Toilet. Roll. Let's follow in Scotland's lead! Let's make N Ireland completely period positive! #MenstruationMatters

What is Stamp 3 visa? Stamp 3 visa is a type of residence permit that states people cannot work or engage in business, trade, or profession. This type of stamp is issued to spouses and children of general work employment permit holders as well as spouses of Non-EEA PhD students in Ireland. Why is this important to us? As skilled immigrants in Ireland we would like to be treated with equality to access employment and contribute to the economy of Ireland. This can only be achieved by removing the obstacles that we have to go through to be considered for employment in Ireland. What can you do to help? We request for your support to petition the Irish government to allow spouses & children of general work employment permit holders and spouses of PhD students to access employment without the requirement of applying for a separate work permit. Useful resources: https://reformstamp3.webador.ie/ http://www.inis.gov.ie/en/inis/pages/registration-stamps https://enterprise.gov.ie/en/What-We-Do/Workplace-and-Skills/Employment-Permits/ http://www.inis.gov.ie/en/INIS/Family%20Reunification%20Policy%20Document.pdf/Files/Family%20Reunification%20Policy%20Document.pdf https://enterprise.gov.ie/en/Publications/Publication-files/Employment-Permits-FAQs-2020.pdf https://enterprise.gov.ie/en/What-We-Do/Workplace-and-Skills/Employment-Permits/Employment-Permit-Eligibility/Immigration-Employment-Permits/

Because Human Rights are for ALL. This Bill gives fuel to homophobia and transphobia and misguided ideas about Ghanaian history and culture. It: Puts non-consensual and consensual acts on the same footing; Criminalises transgender people; Specifically allows for the promotion and spread of anti-lgbti+ propaganda. Will pressure families into genital mutilation of their intersex children; Gives lighter sentences to those who attack lgbti+ people than to those believed to be involved in a consensual homosexual act. Pressures conformity to gender stereotypes for fear of criminal prosecution. Bans and criminalises "Allyship". Bans supporting lgbti+ charities. Many people rely on these for food, moral support and safety. Pushing people underground leaves them even more vulnerable and less likely to receive help when a victim of crime. Is based on misplaced fears of "lgbti+ agenda", of "Western influence", of "turning people gay", "undermining the family" and misinformed ideas of "culture" and "values". People of all gender, sex and orientation minorities have always existed and been part of the fabric of every country and ethnicity. Anti-gay laws were in fact introduced by the colonisers: something which the UK now regrets and realises was wrong. Innocent people would be criminalised for being who they are. Many non-Lgbti+ people would be criminalised too for gender nonconformity, supporting family and friends or simply based on false accusation. Therefore it is dangerous to all in Ghana and warrants condemnation even by homophobic and transphobic people and those hesitant about gay rights. This Bill has been described as among the most homophobic ever written. The rest of Africa and much of the world are watching and many will be influenced by whichever way this Bill goes. Lives are in danger. It must be stopped urgently!

Our migrant young people have so much to contribute to Irish life, but some find that even though they are legally resident, they are unable to access SUSI grants because they don't have the 'right' type of immigration permission to qualify under SUSI's nationality criteria. In practice this means that young migrants face exorbitant international fees when they apply for college or university unless they can secure one of a small number of scholarship places. This effectively locks some migrant young people out of accessing higher education and following their career dreams.

We have seen the success of the campaign. Dublin City Council (DCC) even hinted at it in their social media campaigns with over 300,000 people having enjoyed the pedestrianised. Yet, despite the popularity, DCC are looking to end the pedestrianisation. We want to see it continued as we still need Covid-safe environments to meet with friends going into the winter. Please also email your local councillor to make sure this happens. List here: https://councilmeetings.dublincity.ie/mgCommitteeMailingList.aspx?EM=1&ID=0

To create a sense of public belonging for all community members, especially those in marginalised or disadvantaged groups.

Because this affects EVERYBODY in Ireland, it is not something that happens to other people - it will impact all facets of business, enterprise, services and the private lives of individuals. Apart from the imminent and real danger to sick people living at home who require a regular, uninterrupted electricity supply and indeed to hospitals and care homes, just reflect on the effects of a power outage on electrical appliances and internet access. It will be too late to protest when the centres have been allowed to be built, most of which are absorbing energy without allowing any facility to use renewable energy supplies. It isn't just electricity supplies that will be affected, an inordinate amount of water is also required to keep these centre running efficiently. It is also important to note that these centres DO NOT employ many people. Many countries in Europe have put a moratorium on the building of these energy grabbing entities because they realise the devastating effect they have on national energy supplies.

Eirgrid and the Commission for Regulation of Utilities have stated that if new data centres are built without new electricity generation and "demand side flexibility", we will have blackouts. The new generation being proposed is primarily fossil gas based. The flexibility being discussed is primarily through the data centres installing private fossil fuel generation (rather than batteries/other energy storage/ real time demand flexibility). We need to pause all new data centre development, and pause expansion of existing data centres, until we can guarantee that it will not cause new fossil fuel generation, ie it will not force the grid to procure more fossil fuel generation and infrastructure, and it will not involve data-centre-owned fossil fuel generation. We also need to call at EU level for all data centres to be located in places where it is feasible for the centres to be 100% renewable powered in real time (not through "guarantees of origin" / "green certificates"). Data centres consume a lot of energy, and there are a large number of new data centre proposals being made for Ireland. For example, the proposed data centre in Ennis would have a 200 MW load - equivalent to the electricity consumption of approximately 210,000 homes, which is the number of homes in Clare, Limerick and Kerry combined. The Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) recently issued a consultation paper recommending that data centres be obliged to adhere to “connection measures” (i.e. to be flexible in their timing of use of grid electricity), in order to prevent black outs. However, the paper fails to adequately address climate change, and fails to clearly distinguish between a) flexibility through storage, b) flexibility through matching real time electricity usage to the timing of the wind and sun, and c) flexibility through private data-centre operated fossil fuel generation. The first two are compatible with decarbonisation, the last is not. There are two big issues in electricity decarbonisation: increasing the quantity of renewables, and managing intermittency (e.g. energy storage and demand response). Quantity of renewable supply: We need a lot more renewable generation on the grid to replace existing fossil fuels and to enable transfer of heating and transport from fossil fuel to decarbonised electricity. Grid stability, storage and timing: Many renewables, such as wind and solar, cannot be timed or turned up and down at will. To avoid using fossil fuels as backup when there is low wind and sun, and to avoid wasting renewable energy when there is surplus supply from wind and sun, we need to use more when it is available and use less when it is not (i.e. real-time demand response), and we need to store renewable energy when it is available, for use when it is not. Just transition: We need to manage the transition to more renewables, better storage and timing of electricity use, in a way which prioritises essential needs and the most vulnerable, and uses the electricity we have more efficiently. Current data centre plans = more fossil fuel generation. Many current data centre plans, including the Ennis plan, involve either the data centre installing it’s own large-scale fossil fuel generation, or the grid being forced to procure fossil fuel generation to keep up with the data centre’s demand whenever it wants it. The greenwash trap. We need to be careful of data centres (and other businesses) claiming they are 100% renewable because they have purchased “guarantees of origin”/"green certificates". These are credits from renewable suppliers which are not even connected to the electricity grid the data centre is connected to, and which are not producing electricity at the time it is being used by the data centre. This is smoke-and-mirrors greenwash and doesn't do anything to prevent the Irish grid using fossil fuels. Instead, we need to focus on the "carbon intensity" of the grid they are using (the Irish grid), at the time they are using it. Carbon intensity means grams of CO2 equivalent emitted per kWh of electricity produced, and it can vary substantially according to the wind. Data centres should be required to use or store electricity when the carbon intensity is low, and minimise their use of the grid when there is a shortage of renewables like wind or solar. The true carbon intensity of electricity imports over inter-connectors should also be accounted for. Demands to data centres: Pre-conditions which should be set out for new data centre proposals or proposals to expand existing data centres: * No new fossil fuel burning infrastructure should be installed to power data centres, either on or off site, either owned and operated by the data centre owner/operator or otherwise * Data centres should be required to invest in renewable energy generation either on-site, or close by, on the grid it is connected to, and locate in places where it is feasible to generate sufficient energy from renewables. * Data centres should be required to consume grid electricity at times when there is plentiful wind or other renewable energy on the grid relative to demand, and not at other times, through investment in energy storage. * Data centres should not be allowed to run “mining” of bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies, which consume huge energy resources and have been banned in some jurisdictions already. * Data centres should be required to transparently report on the types of services they provide to different sectors for different purposes, and in the event of power shortages, be capable of rationing data centre services which are non-essential to society without shutting down essential services

People in Afghanistan have been subjected to decades of occupation and violence. The unfolding crisis puts many people in danger and in need of rapid and co-ordinated protection. We call for supports for human rights activists, journalists, women (including those working in education), members of minority groups, Afghan people who supported and worked with NGOs on behalf of the Irish people and the Irish government Afghanistan, and all in need of protection, as a matter of urgency. People in Ireland refuse to look away from the refugee and humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Afghanistan. We welcome the announcement on the 16th August that the Irish government will resettle up to 150 people, but we can and must do more. We call on Minister Coveney, Minister Humphreys, and the Taoiseach, Micheál Martin to: - Urge and work with the international community to create safe routes to safe havens for those fleeing from Afghanistan, including to Ireland. - Provide as many additional places as possible for people and help them evacuate swiftly and safely from Afghanistan to seek International Protection in Ireland. - Issue emergency Temporary Travel documents to vulnerable Afghans who don’t have or cannot access passports, to facilitate their evacuation. - Halt and reverse any deportations or forced returns of people from Ireland to Afghanistan. - Grant refugee status to those currently in Direct Provision after fleeing persecution in Afghanistan, immediately. - Facilitate family reunification as a matter of urgency. - Ensure that student and protection visas are issued or renewed swiftly. We seek these urgent actions to provide protection for vulnerable people seeking safety from Afghanistan in addition to the ongoing calls to provide safe passage and protection for families and individuals currently stranded in appalling conditions in Greece and elsewhere. Solidarity is our strength.