I've worked at Portadown Integrated Primary School (PIPS) for 3 years as an SEN teaching assistant. The compassion, forbearance and dedication of the staff is truly inspiring - especially given the complex needs of many pupils. PIPS aspire to be best in class when it comes to the holistic needs of SEN pupils. Staff have moved mountains in my time, but no amount of care can make up for the lack of amenities at the current school site. I'm one to one with an autistic boy with severe attachment disorder. He would benefit from being in the recently formed LSC 2 class, but the room is so small it can only accommodate 4 pupils. He currently must sit out of class all but 1 hour of the day. He loves running, and playing football, but there is no pitch. He would benefit massively from playing a team sport, but his self-esteem is too low for competitive sport. The school sends a group of students to football tournaments throughout the year, but they've never won a game. I believe that with a football pitch and facilities to train, all these situations would be improved. The proposed new state of the art school building will meet a need sorely lacking in our community.  In order to raise awareness of the challenges faced by SEN pupils and staff, I'm willing to take on this personal physical challenge, the Gaelforce West challenge: https://gaelforceevents.com/en/gaelforce-west-route 

The Northlands Centre in Derry supports thousands of people and families suffering from addiction. The care and support they provide to people at their lowest point saves lives, it helps their families and their communities.  The Department of Health recently withdrew core funding for Northlands despite the life saving work they do in our community.  We are calling on the Executive to now honour the commitment in New Decade New Approach, an international agreement signed by the British and Irish Governments, to provide additional financial support for Northlands. The Department of Health is betraying the letter and spirit of that agreement by withdrawing funding. The million pounds promised to Northlands needs to be delivered now. 

The destruction is vast - with nesting birds and insects and precious peatland being harmed, and the lives of people living nearby and first responders put at risk. Back in 2021, the Mournes experienced the worst wildfires we’d seen at that time, and promises were made that a fire prevention plan would be put in place urgently. But nothing happened, and now the Mournes are facing devastation all over again. Some are calling for the Minister to review the legal burn period which is the period where farmers and land managers are allowed to burn vegetation such as heather, gorse, whin or fern. The Mournes are so beloved - the backdrop to trips and holidays and enshrined in song. But they are precious in so many other ways too - rich in peatlands which store carbon and combat climate change - they’ve been described as our equivalent to the rainforest. We, the undersigned, call for the Minister Andrew Muir to do more to protect our Mourne Mountains today.

The UK government announced plans to drastically cut benefits for disabled and sick people across the UK - including Northern Ireland.  These changes are cruel. More people receive disability benefits such as Personal Independence Benefit (PIP) here than the UK average. So these brutal cuts will cause huge distress and hardship for those of us who live with a disability or illness in the North. No matter who you are, or where you come from, we all deserve support when we are sick or have a disability. Many charities and even 80 Labour MPs – a fifth of the party – oppose these plans. We, the undersigned, oppose these cruel cuts to benefits and call on Keir Starmer to reverse plans NOW.

We all want to have good health, clean drinking water and a flourishing countryside. But your attempt to open up Northern Ireland for dirty mining will put all that at risk. Caoimhe Archibald’s Department for the Economy wants to award SEVEN licenses that would give big mining companies the right to explore and drill for minerals such as gold, copper and diamond in County Armagh, Fermanagh and Tyrone. And one of those companies is Dalradian, who are pushing hard to build a toxic gold mine in the Sperrin Mountains. Mining is a filthy business. It pollutes our water and land with chemicals, harms our health and destroys our beautiful ecosystems. If all the licenses are awarded, approximately 12% of Northern Ireland’s land would be opened up for mining exploration across Country Armagh, Fermanagh and Tyrone. The North would become a sacrifice zone while filthy mining companies make billions in profit. For these companies, this was always the plan for Northern Ireland. In 2015, the Dalradian CEO said “I’m not talking about a single mine. We are working on building a mine camp here [in Northern Ireland].” We, the undersigned, call on the Minister Caoimhe Archibald to reject the following applications and stop even more corporations who want to mine, regardless of the damage it does to our health, and to our climate: • Mineral Prospecting Licence Application - KDRA4/25  • Mineral Prospecting Licence Application - OMA4/25 • Mineral Prospecting Licence Application - DGA4/25 • Mineral Prospecting Licence Application - DGA3/25 • Mineral Prospecting Licence Application - CA3/25 • Mineral Prospecting Licence Application - CA1/25 • Mineral Prospecting Licence Application - KDRA1/25

Last October, Derry & Strabane District Council approved planning for one data centre, with three more already having outline permission. While data centres power much of our online world, they also come with huge environmental costs. While still in the early stages, the expansion of data centres here in NI will place immense strain on both electricity and water resources. Data centres are energy-intensive and also require vast amounts of cooling, consuming either millions of litres of water or huge amounts of electricity to keep them cool. Massive corporations like Amazon, Google and Facebook are behind many of the data centres being built - dumping a vast amounts of useless data in these centres while draining local energy and water sources. What's more, as more and more data centres are built, there is a real risk that we will be unable meet to our legally-binding emissions target under the Climate Change Act 2022. Not only that, we are deeply concerned that large scale wind farms will be fast tracked and built on Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs), damaging those protected areas in order to keep up with the electricity demands of these centres. We demand an immediate review of the planning and approval processes for data centre developments in Northern Ireland and a comprehensive public consultation before they expand further. https://www.savethemoat.com/blog-post

Dear Belfast Pride,  In 1991, Northern Ireland was a vastly different place—far less safe for our community. But you stood up. Despite immense political opposition and social backlash, you took to the streets and demonstrated that we exist, that we matter, and that we would not be silenced. Your bravery helped transform our country, creating a more inclusive society and saving countless lives through visibility and representation.  We recognise and appreciate the impact Belfast Pride has had in shaping our community’s progress. It is because of your courage that grassroots movements like Causeway Pride exist today. However, we now find ourselves facing a new crisis—one that requires decisive action.  The recent decision by the NI Executive to ban puberty blockers is an attack on the trans community, an act of political negligence that directly endangers young lives. Our community has been exploited and betrayed by politicians time and time again, and we refuse to accept it any longer. That is why we urge Belfast Pride to stand with us in rejecting participation from political parties complicit in this decision.  Stormont has consistently failed to deliver for LGBTQ+ people in Northern Ireland, with a long history of neglect, broken promises, and a lack of concrete action on equality. Despite repeated commitments, no minister with responsibility for equality has allocated specific funding to LGBTQ+ issues since 2005. This lack of financial support has left vital services, advocacy groups, and community initiatives struggling to survive, relying instead on limited charity funding or UK-wide grants rather than dedicated local investment.  Beyond funding, there has been a persistent failure to develop a comprehensive strategy to address LGBTQ+ inequality. Since 2007, the Northern Ireland Executive has promised to introduce an LGBTQ+ strategy, but nearly two decades later, no such strategy has been implemented. This has left gaps in crucial areas such as healthcare, education, housing, and protection from discrimination. While other parts of the UK have made significant strides in advancing LGBTQ+ rights, Northern Ireland has lagged behind, with its government failing to take meaningful action.  The absence of a strategy means there is no coordinated approach to tackling homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia, nor is there a clear commitment to improving LGBTQ+ mental health services, addressing homelessness within the community, or ensuring inclusive education in schools. The continued inaction from Stormont highlights a pattern of neglect that has left LGBTQ+ people in Northern Ireland without the support and protections they deserve.  Pride has always been a protest. It is not a platform for those who legislate against us, who refuse to protect our most vulnerable, or who remain silent in the face of oppression. Other Pride organisations, such as Foyle Pride, have already taken a firm stance—banning parties involved in the puberty blocker ban from their festival. We ask Belfast Pride to do the same.  Rather than holding a consultation, we believe that now is the time for decisive leadership. This is not an issue that requires deliberation; it is a fundamental question of whether Belfast Pride will allow those who harm our community to march beneath its banner. We ask you to cancel the consultation and take a clear, principled stand: political parties involved in the puberty blocker ban should not have a place at Pride.  Pride belongs to the people—not to politicians who betray us. We urge you to make your decision reflect this. Stand with us. Speak out. Fight back. 

The NI Assembly is planning to introduce legislation to create a new pay review board to review the salary of MLAs, which could pave the way for a £19000 increase in pay. We are outraged by the possibility of MLAs receiving a substantial pay increase when winter fuel payments have been cut and many people across the North struggle with the cost of living crisis. MLAs have set-up a temporary committee to scrutinise new legislation to review the salary of MLAs. But this committee is a sham. With no public consultation on this new legislation, MLAs will be left to their own devices to decide how this pay review board will work. Local politicians at Stormont don’t have our consent to make these changes. According to a recent poll, the vast majority of people here are against new plans to raise MLA pay. The only interests MLAs are acting in are their own. 

Trust and confidence in leadership is essential for the reassurance of any community and many constituents have been looking forward in general terms to the new Minister’s  delivery on the Sinn Fein 2024 election manifesto, “Strong Leadership, Positive Change”.  In the Warrenpoint area, residents and businesses look forward specifically to leadership towards a solution within an area of Infrastructure responsibility to the waste stench and odour nuisance which dates back to a Council abatement notice going back almost ten years to  2015. Positive change would be greatly welcomed here. Recent confusion around the chemicals used by Re-Gen Waste in what appears to be a losing battle in negating the impact of their organic waste stench in Warrenpoint Port has led to claims and counter-claims by WHA and Re-Gen Waste as to which chemicals have been used. Their lack of agreement has resulted in the withdrawal of an Environmental Audit from the WHA website at the end of October and, in the three and a half months since then, no clarification has been forthcoming from the two bodies forming crucial cogs in the infrastructure of the NI Waste Industry.  That confusion has been escalated by WHA claims that HSENI had made a specific review into those chemicals, a position which has been categorically undermined by HSENI. Stakeholders can have no confidence and no trust in the running of the Trust Port in Warrenpoint by the  Warrenpoint Harbour Authority Board until WHA has replaced their withdrawn Environmental Audit on their website and also fully explained the answers received by a Warrenpoint resident from HSENI as follows :   QUESTIONS TO HSENI Can you please provide me the following: 1. Copies of all emails relating to the statement made by Mr Holmes especially the email of how you informed Mr Holmes of the results of the “specific review” on the Chemicals used by Re-Gen. 2. Copies of any evidence that you hold that supports the claim Mr Holmes has made relating to your organisation. HSENI RESPONSE : A search has been carried out on HSENI’s electronic and paper records based on the parameters of your request. I can confirm that HSENI holds no information in relation to your request. In response to question 1, requesting copies of all emails relating to the statement made by Mr Holmes especially the email of how you informed Mr Holmes of the results of the specific review on the Chemical's used by Re-Gen. I can confirm that HSENI holds no information in relation to this question. In response to question 2, requesting copies of any evidence that you hold that supports the claim Mr Holmes has made relating to your organisation. I can confirm that HSENI holds no information in relation to this question. In response to question 3, requesting copies of the information where Mr Holmes states that you have informed WHA not to modify any of its practices. I can confirm that HSENI holds no information in relation to this question.

Every child deserves to go to school with a full stomach. But with prices increasing and more and more families struggling, more and more children in Northern Ireland are going to school hungry because of strict rules on who can receive free school meals. If every child in primary school received a free meal everyday here, it could make a huge difference for parents and children across Northern Ireland - meaning they can focus in class, and remove the stigma when only some children are eligible. Free school meals are a lifeline for families. Providing them for all children would improve nutrition and engagement in class. And it’s doable. In London and Wales, every primary school student automatically receives a free school meal. We, the undersigned, demand that Minister Paul Givan provides Free School Meals for All, so no child goes hungry in our classrooms. 

60,000. That’s how many properties in Northern Ireland that are STILL without power four days on from Storm Éowyn. Northern Ireland Electricity (NIE) - the private company in charge of maintaining our electricity infrastructure - are telling some homeowners that it will be ANOTHER week until their homes are reconnected. This isn’t good enough for a company that has been raking in the profits over the years - in 2023, NIE recorded a profit of £91.5 million. Many people, including our politicians, are calling for NIE to provide compensation to those still without power.  Stop sitting on your hands to protect your profits and compensate those affected today!

Public trust in our political institutions is at an all time low, and telling people that this information is “not in the public interest” disregards accountability & is condescending. We also fail to see how releasing the evidence informing a decision like this “has the potential to damage the concept of collective responsibility”. It may be argued privately shared opinions within discussions do, but certainly not the evidence which informed those discussions. So, therefore, we demand that, in the interest of full accountability, the NI Executive releases all evidence they used in relation to this decision.