More walking Walking has been with us since humans first learned to…you get the idea. And still, there are few better ways to get around. Cities are finally waking up to walking. Car-free zones and pedestrianised areas have transformed shopping districts and town centres from New York to York. London is planning to become the ‘world’s most walkable city’ by improving signage and reconfiguring pedestrian crossings to give people shorter waits and longer crossing times when they cross the road. Walking isn’t for everyone all the time. But by making walking more attractive and easier, cities can cut congestion, improve air quality and encourage more activity in people’s lives. So many trips we take are under 2 miles (3.2kms). 42% of people agreed that they could just as easily walk these as drive them. There’s so much potential for walking! More cycling Cycling is great for cities and the people who live there. Bikes are the original ‘zero-emission vehicle’ so more people cycling helps cities respond to the twin crises of air pollution and climate breakdown. Cities are dramatically increasing the number of people who cycle by safely separating them from other road traffic. In Copenhagen, 62% of people now cycle to their place of work or study. More e-mobility Across the world, companies like Lime, Bird or Jump by Uber are rolling out thousands of electric scooters and bicycles that are paid per ride via a mobile app. These services are potentially great news for cities as they make it easier for people to access public transport. There are caveats though. These systems need to be built to last, with easy, low-energy mechanisms to keep batteries charged up. And above all, they need to operate in the public interest – integrating into public transport systems without littering the streets or endangering the public. More renewably-powered public transport Trains, buses, ferries, trams – these are the backbones of urban transport. A bus can carry far more people than a car, which means it can move far more people through a city. Fewer cars Cars are everywhere in cities today. But as we move toward more sustainable transport, this needs to change. Fewer cars will benefit general human well-being and air quality massively. And it will also free up space. Loads of it. Parking takes up 200 square miles (517km²) of Los Angeles. That’s enough to fit in a city the size of Singapore. Imagine what we could do without car parks; we could build more green space, more shops, more restaurants. The choices are endless. But cars will not disappear. We will need them for some journeys – particularly those of us with additional needs. For these, will need car clubs; cars that we rent per minute, and share with everyone. These cars will be electric, and small, to make sure they sip energy rather than guzzle it. And they can be self-driven if you want, sure.

Every day we talk to women who have been struggling to get the right advice and support for their menopause symptoms. There are over 400,000 women in Ireland in the natural menopause age range of 45-55 – this does not included women who experience early menopause so the actual figure will be higher – this accounts for 12% of the population and this figure is most definitely higher for women who are in actual perimenopause. This is a sizable % of our population that need guidance, help and knowledge. Catherine started Wellness Warrior as a result of the lack of information and support she found as she experienced Perimenopause. Catherine has been joined by Mary Lynn in her goal to extend knowledge to as many women as possible. Over the years we have become increasingly aware of just how many women are not receiving the right support and advice at menopause, from their doctors, their employers and sometimes even their own families and friends. This is all due to a chronic lack of menopause education and awareness. We do not want the women of Ireland to struggle anymore and we want to pave the way for the next generation. Did you know in the last 20 years our lifespan in Ireland has risen by 27.7% - menopause is happening at the middle stage of our lives not towards the end as was more common in the last century. Catherine met Diane Danzebrink in 2019 and their shared passion to get the word of menopause out to everyone has led to us joining forces with Diane to extend her campaign outside of the UK. This is a marathon not a sprint - so to that effect our first set of goals as follows: Menopause in Irish Health Care : Mandatory Menopause Education for all GP’s and healthcare workers. Far too many women are suffering as GP’s receive very little, if any, menopause education during their training leaving them ill equipped to recognise and manage a phase of life that will directly affect at least 50% of the population. The UK published the most recent suicide figures and the age group for women with the highest suicide rate in the U.K is 50-54 - The average age of menopause is 51. (As we have no official menopause stats in Ireland we must defer to UK statistics). Help is urgently needed not just for the physical aspects of menopause but also the mental aspects. A national campaign to educate Irish Society in relation to menopause. Menopause in the Workplace: Raise awareness within the workplace and for all employers to have menopause guidelines in place to be able to support women experiencing symptoms. Too many women feel unsupported at work and currently 1 in 10 leave the workplace due to menopause symptoms. Supporting women to remain at work by implementing a few simple adjustments is common sense. Government and business need to recognize that menopause guidance in every workplace is a win win situation. Secondary School Education: Introduce menopause education in to the SPHE curriculum for all teenage boys and girls. Every woman and man deserves to understand this phase of life. Far too many individuals and relationships suffer as a result of a lack of understanding of menopause. The UK achieved this in July 2019, Ireland should follow suit. Please join us in calling on the Minister for Health (Stephen Donnelly), the Minister for Education (Norma Foley), Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection (Heather Humphreys) and Ministers responsible for health, work and education to #MakeMenopauseMatterIreland

Irish Cement proposes to burn 63 types of waste in their makeshift incinerator (a troubled and aging cement kiln). This includes whole tyres, plastics, solvents, red mud from Alumina production, animal waste, and a whole lot more up to 90,000 tonnes per annum. The entire city, as well as many villages, towns and farmland where much of our food is grown is downwind of this site. The plume will be dropping its fallout over a 30km radius from the chimney stack. Due to Irish Cement's record of blowouts, and their attempts to deny responsibility, the public has lost all confidence in their ability to run a safe operation.

Climate change is at our doorstep and not enough is being done to help the situation. Ireland's climate action plan is the ambiguous aim to reduce carbon emissions by 30% between 2021 and 2030, but I see little progress being made. As young climate activist Greta Thunberg said, "People are suffering, people are dying, entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth," which truly highlights that we need to do more, and fast. I am making this petition in hopes that we can ban any non-recyclable packaging materials in Ireland by 2025 because time is valuable and we aren't feeling the heat.

10,000 people are waiting for social housing in Dublin, and 70% of young Dubliners cannot access secure, affordable, quality housing. The solution to this is to build public housing on public land. Unfortunately, in places like O'Devaney Gardens, politicians and council officials are giving the land we own - and need - over for private development. A referendum can send a clear message about the policy Dubliners want to see from all four local authorities - and set a new direction for housing in Dublin.

Market traders are experiencing a number of difficulties in our working conditions. We are dismayed and disappointed at the negative response from the Council. It is clear to us that there is no appreciation or understanding of the importance and value of the market to the city. Severe flooding in Churchyard Street , where Galway Market is located, has become a worsening issue over the past few years and gullies regularly overflow on rainy days, resulting in dismal conditions for both traders and visitors. It is becoming increasingly difficult for the traders to protect their stock and to maintain a business. As well as the flooding issues, loose paving stones in the area are a trip hazard for traders and public alike. We recently discovered that the Galway market area is excluded from the upgrading of the city centre pedestrianised zone and there is no plans to resurface the area or carry out much needed repair work to clear overloaded drains. These drains are connected to the mains sewerage system and when they overflow, they are a very unsavoury health hazard to the traders and the public. Despite repeated requests to the City Manager we have been unable to obtain a meeting with him or senior officials to discuss our issues. We urgently need to address this issue, which has become not only a hindrance to business but also a matter of public safety. This is a video about the situation - https://youtu.be/03MdmAeW97M

As part of our Irish culture and identity, as part of our community, to enhance our local economy this college needs to be reopened.

Irish people and also many new residents in Ireland have become HOSTAGES of GREEDY LANDLORDS. SO many needed professionals are leaving Ireland for good because they are unable to make the money for the deposit to buy their first property and EVEN WORSE..... They are afraid of becoming the NEW HOMELESS. We have seen so many people with good jobs paying over 1.200 euros per month rent and trying to survive with what is left of it. Try saving money for a deposit to get into a mortgage is JUST IMPOSSIBLE. Living with your parents is not an option (Parents die, live in a different country or in many cases people never had parents. Most of the time, people are THE PARENTS trying not to become HOMELESS to protect their CHILDREN). Ireland has created the UNTHINKABLE! In any other country, homeless people are usually single people who never went to school or never had a chance to go to school, people who can not get a job or drug addicted. But in Ireland, homeless people actually have a job, usually paid a lot of money to rent a place before becoming homeless and were HOSTAGES of their landlord for a good while. The ones that are not homeless, they are afraid of becoming homeless. The government says that there are not enough houses, but the truth is that there are many houses for sales, people are just UNABLE to buy a property because it is an impossible task to make a deposit for a mortgage while you pay over 1.200 euros rent!!! And the current schemes available ARE JUST NOT HELPING AT ALL!!!!! Even if they BUILD thousands of houses in one month, the number of homeless people will only increase because THE ONES WHO actually NEED to HAVE their first property, they will not afford to buy it, while the rich landlords will buy all of it and rent for WHATEVER PRICE they WANT!!!! WE ARE HOSTAGES of a very stupid system. Please, let's claim for a change NOW. People can not put up with this any longer!

County Sligo still has no abortion services two years on from the referendum to repeal the 8th amendment to the Constitution . Sligo-based pro choice group SARRA say that hat women , girls and pregnant people in Co. Sligo have been let down by the HSE, which is responsible for making abortion services available through the local health services. SARRA has launched this public petition to the HSE calling on it to announce a date for the provision of locally accessible abortion services through the public health system in Co. Sligo, with prompt follow-through on its responsibilities. The group say they have made extensive enquiries with health service structures locally and nationally and still have not been given any details of a date or plan to provide publicly accessible services in Sligo University Hospital or through local GPs. A spokesperson for SARRA, Peigin Doyle, said: “At present, women , girls and pregnant people in Sligo have to travel a round trip of up to 100 km, to Donegal or Roscommon, to access a GP who will give them the medical care they need. These women need to make an initial visit to a doctor followed by another visit three days later and will possibly need to make another visit for a scan if required. That journey may have to be made three times within a short period, often under great stress. This is an unfair and unrealistic burden to place on Sligo women,girls and pregnant people especially those who live in rural areas without public transport services or who cannot afford a car or time to travel. This is not what people in Sligo, or nationally, voted for. Women, girls and pregnant people in Co. Sligo deserve – and need – better than this, and they need it now. “We appeal to local GPs to respond to the needs of women in Sligo by providing the full range of reproductive health services and joining the HSE MyOptions system. We urge the HSE to train and support medical professionals in providing an accessible service at community level and establish the necessary services in Sligo University Hospital.” SARRA can be found on Facebook/Sligo Action for Reproductive Rights Access and twitter @SARRASligo and on their webpage https://northwestactivistsireland.com/sligo-action-for-reproductive-rights-access/ The My Options phone line is open from 9am-9pm Monday to Friday and 10am-2pm on Saturdays on 1800 828 010 (00 353 1 6877044 if calling from Northern Ireland). The online address is www.myoptions.ie

In Ireland up to 1,000 children a year are being forced to stay at home because they cannot get a school place. Overwhelmingly, it is children with special educational needs (SEN) - often those with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) - who are worst hit. Every child and young person with special educational, health and care needs to have the extra support and interventions which will help the child or young person to achieve what they want to in their life. We propose a viable solution for this, an Education, Health & Care (EHC) plan to be the legal and statutory right for every child or young person in Ireland, whose special educational needs require more help than would normally be provided in a mainstream education setting (a college, school, nursery). Annual review of the plan The plan will be reviewed at least once a year. At the end of the review the local authority may make changes to the plan, end it or leave it unchanged. How long will the plan last? The plan will remain in place until your child leaves education or the local council decides that your child no longer needs the plan to help them in their education. If you move to another local council the plan will be transferred. How will the benefits of the EHCp be reinforced? A specialist Tribunal will be in place (which is essentially a no costs jurisdiction) where parents and young persons can challenge the contents of a plan If provision in a plan is not provided, the Local Council (who maintain all such documents) can be challenged by way of Judicial Review or a referral to the Local Government Ombudsman. Once a petition has been published, it will be open to signatures for six months. * At 10,000 signatures, the government will formally respond. * At 100,000 signatures, the request will be considered by the Petitions Committee for debate in Dail. PLEASE SIGN THIS PETITION AND SUPPORT EVERY CHILD AND YOUNG PERSON IN IRELAND TO HAVE THE LEGAL AND STATUTORY RIGHT TO AN EDUCATIONAL, HEALTH AND CARE PLAN.

Many lives are being unnecessarily lost in Ireland every year due to the lack of proper services to cater for mental health. This gap in service provision has led to many people presenting to our psychiatric hospitals being turned away, resulting in these individuals resorting to self-harm or worse – taking their own lives. There was no psychiatric nurse available in Tullamore hospital this week. Furthermore, those waiting to access mental health services can expect a wait of between 6 and 12 months, and there are no aftercare services for people coming out of mental health services in Portlaoise. Another little-known issue that needs to be highlighted is that currently there are no “dual services”. This means that should a person present with intentions of suicide, but have taken alcohol and/or other substances, they are advised to seek addiction counselling or enter rehab before their mental health will be assessed. Many lives have been lost owing to this alone. I have emailed Minister of health the details of this issue and am awaiting a response. We the people of Offaly are calling on our representatives in the Irish government to allocate more funding to the mental health sector. As well as increased hospital-based services, we call on the government to invest additional time and money into educating the public and increasing general awareness about the importance of looking after our mental health. Such funding should also be used to alleviate staff shortages in Offaly and across the country. We in Offaly believe that mental health should be taken as seriously as physical illnesses or injuries. We also ask that our government supports volunteers on the ground who are currently giving much of their free time and energy to helping to prevent suicide in their local communities. Volunteers are not a substitute for professional services but when the two are enabled to work alongside each other, there is a better chance of helping individuals and of decreasing suicide and self-harm. Please take this petition seriously. Remember, it is possible to prevent people taking their own lives. We have the power to protect this and future generations from the devastation caused by suicide

We, the undersigned, note: - The tenants of St Helen’s Court are threatened with eviction by a vulture fund - The current Notice to Quit is the fourth attempt in 3 years by vulture funds to evict these tenants - The current vulture fund and the one that previously owned the apartments are exploiting various loop holes in the residential tenancies legislation to bully and harass these tenants - The harassment is working and, so far, ten tenants have left the complex and found tenancies elsewhere - The remaining ten tenants are resisting the attempt to evict them and expect a hearing in the Residential Tenancies Board in the coming weeks We call on the Minister - To intervene in this situation and ensure Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council buy the apartments to provide affordable homes for these tenants. - Amend the current legislation to remove the loopholes that are currently being exploited by unscrupulous landlords and vulture funds. - Initiate legislation to outlaw all economic evictions.