Category: News

ILMI presentation to SICAP managers
 

ILMI made a presentation to the Irish Local Development Network (ILDN) Social Inclusion Community Activation Programme (SICAP) managers on Tuesday 4^th February.

SICAP addresses high and persistent levels of deprivation through targeted and innovative, locally-led approaches. It supports disadvantaged communities and individuals including unemployed people, people living in deprived areas, people with disabilities, single parent families, people on a low income, members of the Traveller and Roma community and other disadvantaged groups.

ILMI Development Officer Peter Kearns and CEO Damien Walshe presented to SICAP managers on the role of ILMI as a Disabled Persons Organisation. Peter outlined the work ILMI is doing in supporting the development of local DPOs across the country and how that work has been supported by SICAP.

An interactive questions and answers session started some dialogue and how local DPOs operate and ILMI hope to work with ILDN members in the months and years ahead.

Sligo DPO

On Friday 31st of January Sligo Disabled Person’s Organisation held its first Disability Equality Workshop in Cranmore Abbeyquarter Community Centre Sligo . We had some of our own members in attendance as well as HSE staff and some nursing students from St Angela’s College Sligo. Thank you to everyone who attended and to our members and DPO Development officer Peter Kearns from Independent Living Movement Ireland who facilitated the workshop together. Here’s to the first of many more workshops.

If you are a disabled person living in Co Sligo and would like to find out more about us or become a member of Sligo DPO please email sligodpo@gmail.com . Alternatively, you can message us on our Facebook page.

If you would like to enquire about Disability Equality Training workshops that we run please contact sligodpo@gmail.com or send us a message on our Facebook page.

Lucy Webster

On Tuesday, the 28^th of January, ILMI had the pleasure of hosting Lucy Webster, a distinguished writer, political journalist, and disability advocate. Lucy has contributed to renowned publications such as The Guardian, The Times, and Tortoise and is celebrated for her insightful commentary on disability rights and intersectionality.

ILMI’s Paula Soraghan led an engaging conversation with Lucy, delving into her memoir, journalism career, and perspectives on activism and ableism. Lucy shared profound insights into her experiences as a young queer disabled woman, emphasising the significance of intersectionality in her work. She also shared her empowering mantra:
“Don’t let the bastards get you down!”

Throughout the discussion, Lucy candidly spoke about navigating life at the intersection of multiple identities, highlighting both the challenges and joys she encounters. Despite her successes, she acknowledged ongoing struggles with internalised ableism, offering a genuine reflection that resonated with many.

We extend our heartfelt thanks to Lucy for sharing her experiences with such humour, honesty, and authenticity. Her words have undoubtedly left a lasting impact on all who attended.

For those interested in exploring Lucy’s work further, her memoir, “The View From Down Here: Life as a Young Disabled Woman”, provides a powerful and eye-opening insight into navigating the world as a disabled young woman. Available in all great bookshops!

Many thanks to Lucy again for an excellent event and for sharing her experiences and words of wisdom!  The YouTube video of this unmissable interview is here.

Disability Legal Information Clinic 

Do you have a question the Disability Legal Information Clinic  can help with? The clinic provides free, accessible and confidential legal information on issues related to disability to disabled people, their families and supporters across Ireland. Queries can include issues around disability and education, employment, discrimination, the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act or many other topics related to disability and the law in Ireland. The clinic has appointments available in person and online until May 2025.

The clinic is based at the Centre for Disability Law and Policy in the University of Galway. In the clinic students on the Centre’s LLM in International and Comparative Disability Law are supervised by a member of the CDLP team and a qualified legal practitioner.  They research all queries before the appointment and do their best to provide detailed, accessible information.

For more information click here or Email dlic@universityofgalway.ie to arrange an appointment.

Ann Marie Flanagan Independent Seanad Candidate

“I am deeply honoured to have been nominated to contest the Seanad elections on the Administrative Panel by Independent Living Movement Ireland and Irish Deaf Society. To everyone who voted for me as their candidate, thank you so much for your trust and support.

I want to thank all who supported my campaign to achieve an historic moment for all of us, to become the first disabled woman with a background in disability law and policy elected to the Oireachtas.

My campaign was about working for everyone, bringing forward legislation that recognises our fundamental rights as citizens. Despite 103 years since the foundation of the state and the ratification of the UNCRPD it’s still outstanding.

The ballot papers were issued to TDs, Senators and Councillors on Wednesday 15th and the poll closed at 11am yesterday 30th January 2025. The administrative panel count will be Sunday evening the 31st into Monday 1st February.

You can follow the live count for the Seanad elections here on the Oireachtas Website

Warm regards,
Ann Marie Flanagan”

ILMI VOICE in Kerry

On Tuesday, 10 December, the VOICE roadshow wrapped up its 2024 journey in Tralee, County Kerry. Nicola, ILMI’s VOICE Community Development Worker, was invited to meet with the Service Owners Council to speak at their meeting. Members participated both in person and virtually, where they discussed key actions they want to pursue as a Disabled Persons’ Organisation (DPO).

Nicola will continue to reach out to disabled people across counties, sharing the objectives of the VOICE project and empowering communities to drive change. The journey doesn’t stop here, there’s much more to come in 2025!

Work and Access Scheme information Workshop

On Monday 9th December, ILMI created a space for staff from  the Department of Social Protection to provide information to disabled people in relation to the new Work and Access Scheme.

Marie Giblin and Adrienne Collins gave a presentation and there was an informative questions and answers session on the new scheme, how it works and how to access it.

ILMI would like to thank Marie and Adrienne for their time and expertise and for the many disabled  people who attended and gave their time and lived experience to the discussions afterwards.

If you are interested in the Work and Access Scheme but were unable to attend the discussion, we also recorded the information session as a video which can be accessed on our ILMI Vimeo Channel here   We can also circulate the Powerpoint slides if you are interested by emailing info@ilmi.ie

We will continue to link in with the Department of Social Protection and facilitate another discussion in the New Year.

Peter Kearns – Mayo DPO AGM Ballina 5th December 2024

I’m delighted to say that 2024 has been another busy year for ILMI’s local Disabled Persons’ Org. (DPO) community development work. ILMI especially enjoyed speaking at last week’s UN International day of celebrating being a disabled person with Mayo DPO’s first AGM in Ballina.

During 2025 Mayo DPO will be looking to replicate with Mayo County Council this year’s work of Sligo DPO in directly designing Sligo County Council’s 2024 to 2028 Disability Strategy. As with our established NW DPOs during 2024, ILMI will also be supporting Mayo’s new local DPO to develop a model of UNCRPD partnership with HSE Impairment-Label ‘ID’ & ‘Physical’ Managers through quarterly workshops to inform Health policy advocacy project partnership with state bodies. And with the new Mayo DPO Committee, ILMI is looking forward to progressing our ‘Manifesto-for-Change’ through capacity building of relationships with senior disability service provider ‘Advocacy’ managers throughout county Mayo to design internal policies to promote & direct their day-centres to make effective contacts with Mayo DPO.

ILMI and local Mayo DPO connections have seen us working with Area-Partnerships and Local Development Companies, including North Mayo East Dev. Co., who sponsored Mayo DPO’s first AGM in Ballina on week of UN International Day for Disabled People. As with Mayo DPO’s December 2024 first AGM, the process of developing a local DPO Constitution, passed at the well-attended AGM, required 10 months of in-person and on-line workshops with Mayo disabled people and ILMI staff. As with Cork DPO’s first AGM this October, ILMI was delighted to support Mayo DPO’s Constitution for their Ballina AGM. ILMI is currently supporting local DPOs to develop membership and constitutions towards their first AGMs in Meath, Wexford, Donegal, Leitrim, Dublin and Tipperary during 2025.

Why, Sometimes, the Drugs Don’t Work: ILMI, DPOs, and the HSE in Dialogue

Continuing our work of promoting the essential role of the lived experience of local DPOs to mainstream county systems and structures, ILMI is creating Health dialogue local platforms with the HSE. North West local DPOs have been supported by ILMI DPO Development Officer Peter Kearns, and our new local DPO NW staff members Aisling Smith & Pippa Black, to facilitate a 3-monthly in-person workshop at Sligo Northside Community Centre with the HSE ‘Physical/ID’ Impairment labels Managers and advocacy staff. The local DPO, ILMI & HSE 3-month workshop platform explores case-studies from NW DPO members exploring Health ‘system’ disabling barriers. Such a dialogue ‘platform’ has the potential to inform the 2025 establishment ‘body’ criteria of the new Regional Health Authority (RHA) structure that are currently replacing CHO Areas across the State. One of the outcomes of the December 2024 HSE, ILMI & DPOs workshop is that ILMI is asking that a local DPO ‘rep’ be nominated onto the new RHA for the North West. ILMI DPO Development Officer Peter Kearns hopes to replicate this Regional Health Authority ‘Rep’ request, that obviously reflects the dialogue spirit of the UNCRPD with other local DPOs across the Country.

ILMI’s support for the 3-month regular HSE & NW local DPOs case-study workshops at a community venue, are evidence of the national cross-impairment DPO’s intention to continue developing a model of UNCRPD informed partnerships with HSE Impairment-Label ‘ID’ & ‘Physical’ Managers and local DPOs across the nation. This unique social model led dialogue platform model will also inform our advocacy project partnership with Inclusion Irl. & the HSE, entitled Consultation to Co-creation. ILMI’s DPO Development Officer told our newsletter that; “I look forward to replicating this HSE & ILMI model with our three new Consultation to Co-creation local DPO Supports Workers in Sligo, Meath & Donegal, plus our two new Direct-Provision Support Workers”. ILMI’s Peter is also supporting Sligo, Donegal & Leitrim DPO members to use Theatre-of-the-Oppressed to recruit new members to the Consultation to Co-creation project by performing social model short inter-active plays at community and day-centre venues.

The NW establishment of a pool of trainers that completed a Disability Equality Training-the-Trainer Course with local DPO members, facilitated by ILMI’s Peter during summer 2024, will also be informing county council and PPN staff development alongside ILMI’s and Inclusion Irl’s 2025 advocacy projects. Peter also told us that he is; “looking forward to progressing our ILMI summer 24’ launched ‘Manifesto-for-Change’ with ILMI’s Fiona Weldon and our capacity building of relationships with senior disability day-service provider ‘Advocacy’ managers. We look forward to ILMI as a national DPO, designing and monitoring of day-centre internal policies to promote & direct them to make effective contacts with local DPOs”.

Another of ILMI & HSE projects that will inform future Org-to-Org. dialogues will be the 2024 spring through to autumn local DPOs Focus-Group research work of Aisling Smith & Mark Kupczak with the Drugs & Alcohol NW Regional Taskforce, where Peter represents ILMI & NW community development voices. The ILMI administered emancipatory research, which is HSE funded and was first identified by ILMI over 3-years ago, will show how prescribed impairment label medications can create disabling lived experiences throughout a disabled persons’ LifeCourse (from birth to death). The NW local DPO experiential Focus-Group research provides critical insights into the lived experiences of disabled adults and young people, and seems to be a world first type of study with DPOs.

The research report will be launched by ILMI, HSE and the NW Taskforce at the Sligo Model Arts Centre in February 2025. The social model informed study set-out to firstly identify that prescribed impairment label medications can create disabling lived experiences throughout a disabled persons’ LifeCourse. And, then proceeds to navigate, with local DPO voices, the possible mis-use of prescribed medications by the Health system & professionals related to impairment-labels and disabled people’s engagement, or lack thereof, with frontline drug and alcohol services. Centring on the voices of local DPO members, the study identifies this often-overlooked demographic and highlights how intersecting factors such as disabling barriers to mainstream drug supports and impairment label medication reliance can reflect a medical model biased Health system. The research will explore how such a bias can shape how disabled individuals’ lack of interactions with drug taking support systems can often portray a lack of emphasis on effective accessibility to existing mainstream drug supports.