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Press Release from the Independent Living Movement Ireland
“The constant lack of consideration for our independence, needs and human rights is not only incredibly frustrating but also insulting.”
On Tuesday Irish Rail “excitedly” announced “The first of our 41 new intercity rail cars have just left the Hyundai Rotem Factory in Korea to ship to Ireland. We expect the first vehicles to arrive in September and they will enter service next year”. However Independent Living Movement Ireland (ILMI) as a national DPO would like to stress that this huge investment in public transport for All still leads to segregation for more than 13% of the population.
Full PR on this link
ILMI pre-submission #BUDGET23
IMAGE: zoom shot of participant group
ILMI hosted a pre-budget discussion Thursday afternoon on key priority areas that WE as disabled people feel should be included in the raft of measures in #BUDGET23 to ensure we can live equal to others jamescawley@ilmi.ie if you want your voice included in our submission #BUDGET23
In from the Margins: Advancing a Community Development Approach to achieving Equality, Social Inclusion, Participation and Human Rights for Disabled People in Ireland
IMAGE: zoom screenshot of the ILMI contributors
On Wednesday 29th June, ILMI in partnership with Community Work Ireland (CWI) held a webinar to explore the historic absence of community development approaches to building collective autonomous spaces and the work of ILMI as a Disabled Persons Organisation to create such spaces.
ILMI’s Peter Kearns began the webinar by exploring the medical and charity models and how they informed the work of disability service providers and contrasting that with the disability equality informed work of ILMI as a DPO. Peter also showed that the principles of community development (Collective action, Empowerment, Social Justice, Equality and Participation) leads to emancipatory collective spaces that provide disabled people with the critical thinking to challenge their oppression and build spaces to inform power structures in Irish society.
Martin Collins, co-director of Pavee Point Travellers and Roma Centre gave a fascintating historical overview of the move from a charity model of non-Travellers making decisions about Travellers to a community development approach that built on Travellers’ lived experience to challenge racism, oppression and discrimination. Martin spoke about the process of empowerment that has led to spaces for Travellers to be at the table as policies are developed about Travellers lives. ILMI’s VOICE community development worker Paula Soraghan than outlined to people what a DPO is, the values of a DPO and examples of work through ONSIDE and VOICE of how ILMI aims to support the development of local DPOs.
CWI Joint National Co-ordinator Rachel Doyle then gave an overview of the principles and practices of Community Development. Rachel outlined that community development is a values-led approach that is not only about the task (what is to be done) but the process (how it is done). Community development is working from the real (the oppression being faced by disabled people) towards the ideal (equality and inclusion). Teresa Butler, Community Development worker with Leitrim Development Company gave very real practical advice to community workers on how to engage with disabled people to support the development of autonomous collective spaces, and how these spaces should inform work such as PPNs, LCDCs and HDSGs.
After a brief questions and answers session with the panel, the event was closed out by recognising that this was the first step in creating a greater awareness of the need to support community development workers to develop their understanding of disability equality and link with ILMI as a DPO to support community development processes to building collective spaces.
#PASnow Leinster house Audio Visual room Tuesday 28th June
IMAGE: Group shot outside Leinster House Damien Walshe ILMI CEO, ILMI peer mentor Shelly Gaynor, ILMI Policy Officer James Cawley, Pauline Tully TD, Senator Eileen Flynn and ILMI Board Members Ann Marie Flanagan and Brian Dalton.
Huge thanks to all our national political representatives who took the time to meet with us this afternoon for the #PASNOW briefing in Leinster House. ILMI Directors Ann Marie Flanagan and Brian Dalton joined ILMI staff Damien Walshe, James Cawley and Shelly Gaynor in explaining why legislation to protect our right to access PAS is so important. It was a productive afternoon and our thanks in particular to Sorca Clarke TD and Pauline Tully TD for hosting this session. Thanks also to Thomas Pringle TD for his unwavering support for this campaign. As we commemorate 30 years of PAS in Ireland we move forward with our campaign for true #EQUALITY and protection of our right to access Personal Assistance Services.
ILMI Housing Network
Independent Living Movement Ireland are delighted to announce that we are going to run another housing network programme in September of this year to build disabled peoples Knowledge and capacity on housing policy in local structures such as the housing disability steering groups (HDSGs).
We all know it is really important to have disabled peoples input into local decision making structures as outlined in the UNCRPD.
ILMI welcome this as part of the new national housing strategy for disabled people 2022 -2027. If you would like to find out more and be the change drop an email to our policy officer jamescawley@ilmi.ie
Thu, 23 Jun 2022 Committee on Gender Equality
IMAGE: screenshot featuring ILMI’s CREATE Project Life Coach Eileen Daly in action
ILMI’s Fiona Weldon and Eileen Daly were speaking in front of the Committee.
Topic: Recommendations of the report of the Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality on Care and Social Protection (4-19)
“We speak to you today as disabled women and not women with a disability. This is a social-rights and political right stance to our understanding of disability and this will underpin our contributions today.
Both myself and Eileen work for ILMI. ILMI is a national cross impairment DPO that seeks a better Ireland for all disabled people. We are acutely aware that disabled people live in a world that systematically excludes them from the ordinary rhythms of daily living.
We agree that gender equality is a matter of human rights, social justice and fairness and very much welcome the recommendations that the citizens assembly have made to tackle the issue.
Disabled people as a whole experience inequalities that have a detrimental impact on both our life chances and quality of life, but we feel very strongly that we cannot address gender equality unless we address the reality that disabled women need to be, and feel equal to their non-disabled counterparts! 13.8% of women in Ireland are disabled women - that’s a lot of us!
Disabled women are not homogenous, we are all intersectional. We hold many identities - such as gender, race, ethnicity, social class, religion, sexual orientation, ability and these identities can overlap with one another. Understanding intersectionality with regard to disability is essential for the creation of appropriate laws and policies and the design and delivery of accessible, inclusive services.
Each and every one of us have our own unique experiences of discrimination and we must consider everything and anything that can marginalise us. Article 6 of the UNCRPD states that disabled women experience multiple discrimination…..” Full opening statement can be read here
Link to video can be found here
The SFC Project updates
IMAGE: zoom screenshot of session participants
On the 27th of June, the Strategies for Change participants were given an In-depth class on the United Nation's Convention on the rights of persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) by Ann-Marie Flanagan.
Ann-Marie is a disabled person’s rights activist and co-founder of the Disabled People of Clare/Clare Leader Forum a Disabled Person's Organisation (DPO), board member of Independent Living Movement Ireland (ILMI). She is involved with the National Women's Council Disabled Women's Group and Disabled Women Ireland. She is currently completing a Law Masters in Comparative and International Disability Human Rights Law and Policy in NUIG Centre for Disability Studies.
The group covered the History of UNCRPD, its purpose and the characteristics of the different parts of the convention and the articles. The role of Disabled Person’s Organisations (DPOs) and then there was a very interactive discussion on Convention and Activism and the importance of Self and collective activism.
In 1980, the UN adopted the World Programme of Action Concerning Disabled People. The UNCRPD was adopted in 2006 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York and came into force in 2008. The UNCRPD identifies the important rights that impact the lives of disabled people.
Ireland ratified the UN UNCRPD in 2018, 11 years after signing it, making Ireland the final country in the EU to pass the UNCRPD. This means that Ireland has made a firm commitment that it will protect and promote the rights of all disabled people.
The UNCRPD is characterised by a Social Model, Self-determination, Active Participation and necessary changes in domestic laws to adhere to the Convention. The state is currently making such changes to the Assisted Decision Making Act here in Ireland.
The UNCRPD is broken down into 2 parts:
• Preamble and 50 Articles
• Optional Protocol – Investigations and Petition Procedures
This is a link to the plain English document of the UNCRPD to give more details of the different parts:
The UNCRPD clarifies the rights of disabled people and promotes and protect all human rights and fundamental freedoms of all disabled people, regardless of type of impairment and level of need. It respects our inherent dignity and allows for all people to effectively participate in society free of restrictions at all levels from environmental, cultural, physical, economic, social, political barriers.
Disabled persons organisations (DPOs) have a significant role in building capacity, education and peer supporting each other and this is very evident as a core value of ILMI.
The UNCRPD says that all disabled people must enjoy all of their human rights and fundamental freedoms adhered. Within Article 4 and 33 of the Convention it states that each member state are obligated to listen to disabled people. Therefore, we feel that it is so important that each of us share our lived experience, have our voices heard and challenge those who violate our human rights as disabled people.
Written by ILMI member Stacey Grealis
SFC Session on Disability Policy and Practice in Ireland
The first presentation focused on introducing the values and objectives of ILMI which for the participants a refresher was given the group’s strong links to ILMI. During the first break out session, participants were invited to respond to the question if they felt they were equal in Ireland.
Full link here
SFC Session on Sex Positivity – to boldly go where everyone has gone before with Selina Bonnie.
We all have a way of presenting ourselves to the world, some people call that our sexuality, it could be the clothes we wear, the makeup we put on, or the way we communicate.
It doesn’t necessarily mean being in a relationship, or engaging an a particular act, it is how we think about ourselves. That can include our gender identity as well as our sexuality and whether or not we choose to become parents.
Full link here
Is the non-disabled eco-world worth saving if only the privileged can survive and thrive?
IMAGE: photo of group
Leitrim Disabled Persons Org. (DPO) was delighted to be invited to deliver a morning's talk and inter-active workshop with Managers, staff & volunteers at Rossinver Fermanagh/Leitrim border located Organic Centre. ILMI's Peter Kearns designed the Disability Equality Training (DET) session to include time to identify the growing recognition by world-wide disabled activists and their DPOs of the concerning nature of Eco-Ableism.
Eco-Ableism is simply another form of Ableism connected with the contemporary lived experience of disabled people. ILMI's Peter and Leitrim Organic Centre DET organising staff were keen that Eco-Ableism concerns were part of the well-attended workshop at the beautifully laid-out Organic Centre garden. The group-workshop based morning explored how Eco-Ableism has shown evidence of ignoring of the voice of DPOs and enabling of discrimination of disabled people. DPO activists are somewhat concerned that Eco-Ableism doesn't include the lived experiences of disabled people and favours an eco-led world of non-disabled people.
Eco-Ableism could be seen to force on disabled people a non-disabled persons eco-only-moral argument led world that has been designed to erase the genuine….. full article can be found on this link.
Cork VOICE online Platform
IMAGE: Zoom screenshot of the group
The first Cork VOICE online Platform was held on Wednesday the 29th June. Whilst there were many familiar faces at the session, it was good to welcome some new people as well.
Damien Walshe, ILMI CEO gave an overview of what the VOICE project aims to achieve through capacity building and using the existing expertise and knowledge within ILMI to support Disabled People to understand the structures that shape our communities and how through collective action we can realise our human rights.
The Guest Speaker was Dermot Crosbie who is a Case Officer with INTREO. He gave a presentation on the various schemes and programmes to assist Disabled People who want to explore their options around work or education i.e. the Guidance Service and a new work experience programme called WREP.
It was a relevant and practical presentation. I hope this is the start of a group that will continue to engage new people from all parts of County Cork. For more information contact me at 087 718 9237 or email nicolameacle@ilmi.ie to get the link for the next session.
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