UNCRPD, Ireland’s ten-year moral outrage
Having a neurodegenerative illness that cannot be cured has given me the best gift I could ever ask for, strength and meeting the most inspirational and brightest people with disabilities in Ireland and abroad. Yes, they might "be different" in the eyes of many, but they showed me that not everything in life has a price or a tag. They taught me that disability is about misinterpreted ability because they help other people with or without disabilities within their communities in a time when their government shows signs of deliberate discrimination.
UNCRPD in Ireland – begging for change
Over the years, many extraordinary, inspiring people with disabilities have shown how they have rocked the world in their unique way. What the likes of Trump might regard as incompetence, I have seen extremely able, courageous people who have raised the bar not only for themselves but for others as well. They are living proof that having a disability is not the end of the road. There is, in fact, a whole world ahead of you. It might be good to remember these strong words from Michelle Obama, “When they go low, we go high.”
Disability rights in Ireland, 3 years later
"What’s even more bizarre, in November 2012, Ireland successfully campaigned for election to the Human Rights Council, yet it is still to ratify a convention that states that the rights of people with disabilities must be upheld. As a result, human rights are good for some in Ireland, but not for all. Oh, the irony of a health minister talking about inclusion."
Disable Inequality
It’s been rather quiet down here. The past four to five months, I’ve been involved in disability rights campaigns and had a long much-needed Christmas and New Year’s break. I’m now back to passive campaigning in some form or another while having the flu… it’s never boring in MS-land. With the Irish election campaign in full swing, it’s difficult combining high-powered fatigue issues and other MS symptoms with the amount of advocating I want to do. The first and second are, as most of you know, difficult to tackle, the latter not acted upon enough. I’m still dedicated to writing for my blog, though, and also for the Novartis and Irish MS Society blogs. There is one thing I would like to highlight. In my belief, disability rights are something…
The sorry state of neurology in Ireland: one year on
"Governments past kept on living with their own kind of neurological illness, i.e. selective memory loss when these services so clearly demanded upgrades."
UNCRPD – The Right on Participation in Political and Public Life
It has been a great, uplifting two weeks. Busy, yes, but it was also about self-analysis and giving back. If I remember well – as you know my memories have a short lifespan – it was all about life with MS. I finally received meds for trigeminal neuralgia, aka the ‘suicide disease’ last week. As trigeminal goes, it is one of the most painful conditions according to medical staff. Over the past three to four months, many a thought went into on finding ways of eradicating the pain. It went as far as referring to it as ‘trigeminal blah blah blah’ because I started hating the word and all it stood for. Not often do I lose hope when I am in a lot of pain, and with a pain…
UNCRPD – Getting Ready to Ratify (2)
Like mentioned last Friday, I went to a conference on the hopefully soon-to-be ratified UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) and this Friday, I will attend a second conference about this. Before I received both invitations, I was unaware of the CRPD. My first thought was “Oh I thought there were already rights in place for people with disabilities?” Not so, and I have tried to learn about conventions and optional protocols since then. It’s testing though, remembering article 1 by the time I’ve arrived at article 2 is a bit of a challenge, but challenges don’t scare me. On the contrary.
