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Introducing a new Community and Disability Newsletter from DFI

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability (UN CRPD) must be a living Convention, whose articles underpin every decision and every programme for the benefit of all. Living in the community means being able to enjoy the amenities, facilities and opportunities that everybody else can avail of.

Informed decisions on issues such as physical access, employment, leisure and social activities etc, can all combine to make our experience of life in the community so much better. Where disabled people are directly engaged with local decision making, policies, strategies, the outcomes are always more in touch with the needs of the community.

This is why, in our Community Advocacy work, we engage with people with disabilities to support their direct participation and engagement in local decision making. We also work with our member organisations across the country and a variety of partners and key stakeholders. .

In this newsletter we aim to highlight the activities of our members, and persons with lived experience and we will also highlight the good community work which is being done across the country.

In our first issue, we highlight the launch of the Wicklow County Council Disability and Inclusion Strategy, an EU Access Award for South Dublin Coounty Council, and an engaging event on Community Access for International Day of Persons with Disabilities. We also highlight some good news stories on Disability Inclusion from the Community.

We hope you enjoy issue one of our new quarterly Community and Disability Newsletter. Please contact us with feedback, updates and news to include in future issues and to subscribe to future issues.

Regards,

PJ Cleere

Development Manager

Lead Community Development Advocacy Team

8 December 2023

Making Wicklow a more accessible and inclusive county

Wicklow’s first ever Disability and Inclusion Strategy was launched recently at an event in the Arklow Bay Hotel. Wicklow County Council’s Disability and Inclusion Steering Committee (DISC), have been working towards this launch since their committee was established in 2020.

Welcoming the strategy, Councillor Aoife Flynn Kennedy, Cathaoirleach of Wicklow County Council said, “Wicklow County Council is a leader in making the services we provide accessible to all. We are the only local authority in the country who, through our partnership with the Disability Federation of Ireland (DFI), has introduced the role of Disability and Inclusion officer. This role complements the work of our access officer.”

Councillor Miriam Murphy said, “The reason I became a councillor, is because I felt that people were making decisions about where I went, what I wanted to do, where to live, where to go to the pub, and everything else, and these people didn’t know me. I felt I had to be at the table to help with these decisions.”

A great deal of work and consultation took place in the build-up to the strategy, led by the Disability Inclusion Steering Committee (DISC), of which DFI’s Laura O’Callaghan (pictured below left) is a member.

Director of Services Michael Nicholson was keen to praise the involvement of Laura in the DISC, saying, “Having Laura from the DFI is an absolute godsend for us because we have the full knowledge and the full importance of DFI in all our matters, and I think the members will agree, you can see the results across the county of that expertise.

Commenting at the launch of the strategy, Laura O’Callaghan said, “We have an idea now of where people’s priorities lie in terms of disability, and we aim to launch what we have come up with so far next month. It is this idea of equality versus equity, and it’s not the same for everybody across the board. It’s giving people who needed a leg up where they need it and showing that this county can understand the value of equity over quality, is accessible for all and celebrates the fact that we are all different, but equal.”

The strategy outlines how Wicklow County Council and other community stakeholders will work to make Wicklow a more accessible and inclusive county, over the next five years. A toolkit is also available to complement the strategy.

Click here for more on this story and for a link to the strategy and tooklit.

South Dublin County Council wins EU Access Special Mention Award for landscapes and special play areas

“Play is a basic human right for all children but play alone is not enough. Children deserve to spend their childhoods in close contact with nature and to benefit from its many gifts. This can be especially important to children with Autism and other sensory issues. Realising this and bringing the values of inclusion, respect for the natural world and community participation into our projects has guided our decision making and delivered enormous benefits.”

The above was part of a speech made by the Mayor of South Dublin County Council, Alan Edge, as he accepted a Special Mention Award for landscape and play areas from the European Access City Award Scheme on Friday 1 December in Brussles.

Mayor Edge went on to pay tribute to the local community. He said, “To the citizens of our South Dublin, you are the primary reason for our success. Your engagement, feedback, and support have been instrumental in shaping policies and projects that prioritize accessibility. The conversations in local neighbourhoods, community centres, playgrounds and classrooms all around our County gave us the knowledge we needed to transform how we were meeting the needs of children growing up in our county.”

DFI’s CEO John Dolan and Dr Emer Begley (pictured above with Mayor Edge)were present for the award ceremony in Brussels. We offer our congratulations to Mayor Edge and all involved in bringing this recognition home to Ireland.

The Access City Awards were created by the European Commission to reward cities that have prioritised accessibility for persons with disabilities. The Access City Award programme is open to

• all EU cities of over 50 000 inhabitants
• urban areas composed of two or more towns with a combined population of over 50 000 inhabitants, if they are in EU countries with fewer than 2 cities with over 50 000 inhabitants.

Kilkenny County Council adopts new Disability Inclusion Strategy

Kilkenny County Council has adopted a Disability Inclusion Strategy that will guide policy over the next three years.

The strategy covers activities across the organisation to support access by disabled people to a range of activities provided and supported by Kilkenny County Council.

Proposing the policy document, Cllr Maria Dollard highlighted the appreciation of the Kilkenny Access Group who were afforded an opportunity to consider the strategy before it was presented for approval to members.

Cllr Dollard is a family carer and long-time campaigner for disability rights, particularly in the area of autism.

She was appointed to the National Disability Inclusion Strategy Implementation Group and as a result became aware of the gaps in the policy at local level.

Working with the Kilkenny Access Group to advocate for its development was very important as this was a priority for that group as well.

“I welcome the strategy,” she said. “I approached Kilkenny County Council in April 2022 to investigate why we didn’t have a strategy and how we could work together to develop one. We now have a shared document to work from and expect it to be monitored for outcomes on a regular basis, with Kilkenny Access Group, in order to evaluate if it is achieving its purpose.”

Pictured above are: Paul O’Rahilly, Susan Dowling, Mary Fennelly, Cllr Maria Dollard and Fiona O’Neill

People with Disabilities highlight access issues in their communities at event to mark International Day of Persons with Disabilities

DFI was delighted to be part of an event hosted by Inclusion Ireland on Access to your Community to mark International Day of Persons with Disabilites. The event, which took place in the Trinity College Centre for People with Intellectual Disabilities, was held on Monday 4 December.

At the centre of the event were people with disabilities who shared testimony on the issues that they face when it comes to accessing their communities – like for example the driver theory test, accessible housing, employment, transport and general access into their local communities.

DFI’s Communications Manager Brenda Drumm had an opportuntiy to present our annual ‘Make Way Day’ campaign which aims to raise awareness of the obstacles that are placed in the way of disabled people in the public spaces that we all share in our local communities.

The event also heard from a Transport Panel featuring, Dublin Airport, Bus Eireann, Irish Rail and Dublin Bus.

The above drawing was done live at the event by artist Eimear McNally to represent the different themes and topics on access to community which emerged on the day.

Sharing the Good News about Community and Disability initiatives and projects

We are delighted to share some good news stories with you on Community and Disability:

• Funding Awarded to DFI Member Organisations in the Disability Participation and Awareness Fund 2023. Read more here
• Cork Cycle for All Making Cycling inclusive and fun for people of all abilities. Listen to the interview on RTÉ Radio One with founder Mark O’Donoghue. Click here.
• New Story Book featuring children with disabilities launched as part of Kildare Disability Week Read more here

Implementation of the UN CRPD at Local Level

We have invited expressions of interest from suitable qualified consultants to work with us the following project: Implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD) at Local Level.

Watch this space!

Resource: A Guide for Inclusive Community Engagement in Local Planning and Decision Making

This resource guide is aimed at ensuring that marginalised and disadvantaged communities have opportunities to engage and participate in local planning and decision-making.

Inclusive engagement with marginalised communities, and the organisations that represent them, will ensure that their views are reflected in local decision-making. The guide also aims to enable more sustainable development at a local level.

Local authorities, public sector bodies, community groups or any organisation committed to inclusive local decision-making can use this plain English resource.

Download a copy of ‘A Guide for Inclusive Community Engagement in Local Planning and Decision Making [Second Edition]’ here.

Download the presentation slides from the launch of the second edition of the Guide in October 2023 here.

Find out more about the guide in this short video below.

For more on all of the content featured in our newsletter see www.disability-federation.ie.

If you have been sent this newsletter by a colleague please email us to subscribe directly to receive your own copy of future issues.

Copyright © 2023 Disability Federation of Ireland, All rights reserved.

Disability Federation of Ireland (DFI) is the national support organisation for voluntary disability organisations in Ireland who provide services to people with disabilities and disabling conditions.

Disability Federation of Ireland, Fumbally Court, Fumbally Lane, Dublin 8. Telephone: 01 4547978, Email: info@disability-federation.ie, Web: www.disability-federation.ie

Disability Federation of Ireland, is a company limited by guarantee not having share capital, registered in Dublin, Ireland with offices at Fumbally Court, Fumablly Lane, Dublin 8. Registration Number 140948, CHY No 6177

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