Cork City Council is not being provided with enough funding to build public housing. We are asking councillors to refuse to sign off on the budget and force central government to provide the resources required.

Join South Africa case at ICJ against Israel

Celbridge has a population of over 22,000 people. We demand Gardaí resources for Celbridge to ensure that Celbridge will have sufficient Gardaí and a Garda Station that is open full-time.

Property tax on pensioners with a single home should be abolished

Under the Maternity & Infant Scheme which provides free ante natal and post-natal care to women in Ireland, women are offered one post-natal check-up at six weeks. This abrupt end to maternity care has the potential to be a huge barrier to women who need help with mental health concerns and more beyond the six-week check-up. 15-25% of Mothers in Ireland experience some form of depression in the first twelve months postnatally and peaks have been observed for depressive and stress symptoms at six and twelve-months post-partum. While statistics focus on numbers it is important to remember that these numbers represent real women, the mothers of Ireland who deserve to be cared for during the post-natal period.  The Maternity & Infant Scheme which has only been reviewed once in 1994, needs an urgent review with a focus on extending its coverage to include check-ups for women at three and twelve-months post-partum. It is largely agreed that women need longer than six weeks to recognise what is or isn’t normal for them and providing  more appointments with healthcare professionals gives women the opportunities they need to raise concerns they may have. Post-natal care, a critical component of maternal and child health, requires immediate and comprehensive attention. Ireland has one of the highest birth rates in Europe and so the need for robust post-natal care is more critical than ever. The Government needs to: 1. Conduct a thorough review of the current post-natal care services, identifying gaps and areas for improvement. 2. Allocate additional resources to ensure all new mothers receive the support they need, including mental health services, lactation consulting, and home visits by healthcare professionals. 3. Enhance training for healthcare providers in post-natal care and ensure adequate staffing levels to meet the increasing demand. 4. Develop and implement policies that support extended maternity leave and flexible working conditions for new parents, allowing them to prioritise their health and the well-being of their children. 

Stop the transfer tests from taking place this year

Release the funds to pay the nurses their strike pay.

To whom it may concern, My name is Constance McKenna and I am expressing concern towards Dublin City Council to change the nature of the Georgian building which was the setting for the story by James Joyce “The Dead” and the film 1987, and convert to private apartments.  I urge you to reconsider this decision. We must protect our heritage. Through literature, cinema and architecture. Many thanks for taking the time to read this message. Yours Sincerely, Constance McKenna

From a small initiative begun in schools in the Dun Laoghaire Constituency, parents and school community members from all over Ireland are coming together to demand better for all our children. Specifically, we are calling for better provision of resources for children with additional needs, more Special Education Teachers (SETs) & Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) to ensure best equality of opportunity for all children in every school. We need candidates running in the upcoming General Election to really understand the struggles our schools, pupils & their families, teachers, principals, SETs & SNAs are experiencing in trying to provide an education to all children of all abilities. Currently, there is an enormous deficit in the provision of assessments, diagnoses, therapeutic services and a full complement of SET hours and SNA support in schools. Our goal is a fully inclusive education system where every child has the opportunity to flourish. Our demand for The Right Inclusion Model for Every Child calls for the State to provide for the rights of every child in Ireland to an education. To respect the rights of all of our children, sufficient resources and support must be provided to every child to meet their own individual needs.  Under the current model, inadequate resourcing means that children are not guaranteed their right to equal access to education. We want to achieve cross-party support for The Right Inclusion Model for Every Child ahead of the General Election and to have the principles of this model included on the next Programme for Government.   We’ve identified key improvements needed in the current system that need to be urgently addressed or the pupils in each & every school will be impacted.   The Right Inclusion Model for Every Child must include: Enough child-centred supports & resources to match needs rather than budget; Enough class teachers; Enough Special Needs Teachers for children who need them; Enough Special Needs Assistants for children who need them; Enough assessments available for children who need them; Enough therapists to work with children who need them; Enough mental health professionals available to work with children who need them; Enough options for children and their families: To have options of placements in mainstream schools, special classes in schools, and special schools according to each child’s needs. Transparency in the Process: Meaningful consultation with schools, parents and children’s advocacy groups is necessary to inform the right inclusion model.  Specific Problems that can be addressed by this pledge: - Changing the criteria for access to supports has increased the pressure on schools who are without adequate resources.  - Directing parents to schools for access to psychological assessments (via NEPs) is not meeting the needs of children as there is a massive shortfall in allocation of these assessments. - Speech and Language, behavioural and psychological programmes formerly provided by trained professionals to children in schools cannot be outsourced to teachers (as envisaged by HSE strategies). The provision of these professional services directly from Speech and Language Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Psychologists and Psychiatrists needs to be restored to schools. We are asking every representative and candidates in the General Election to pledge to deliver The Right Inclusion Model for Every Child as a matter of priority in the next government.

Ireland needs a comprehensive, zero covid strategy. A zero covid strategy would mean that Ireland would not have or maintain the active, uncontrolled, spread of the virus within the community. It would involve a combination of our current restrictions (for a period of time), adding in aggressive public health measures (contract tracing, case finding, testing, supported isolation), managing the Northern Irish border fairly and reasonably (in agreement with NI), and quarantining visitors in hotels (not including lorry drivers, cabin crew & sailors who would be managed separately). New Zealand is proof that a Zero Covid strategy works extremely effectively and efficiently. Enough is enough. We’ve spent the last year in a perpetual cycle of lockdowns, it evidently does NOT work. We have been in lockdown 3 since the start of January and it will continue until at least the beginning of April. That is 3 months, had we introduced a zero covid strategy at the beginning of this lockdown perhaps things would already be going back to ‘normal’. We are experiencing all of the pain of extreme lockdowns without any of the gain. For most, a zero covid strategy would not currently change much about their day-to-day life but it would give us all back our freedom in the near future. Ireland currently has the toughest lockdown restrictions in Europe and the 3rd toughest restrictions globally. It’s time to take a stand. Sign this petition to force the Irish government to implement a comprehensive Zero Covid strategy. This isn’t just a bad handling of a national emergency, it’s an unacceptable handling of a national emergency, they are failing us. They have had every opportunity to produce an effective living with Covid strategy and yet after weeks and month of waiting nothing has come to fruition. Sign this petition to show the Irish government that our only logical next option is to introduce a Zero Covid strategy.