Campaigners push for new disability laws

Protesters call on minister to ratify UN treaty

PROTESTERS yesterday called on the Government to ratify a UN convention it signed 10 years ago but has not acted on to guarantee equal human rights for people with disabilities.

It has already been ratified by all EU member states with the exception of Ireland.

Protesters marching in Dublin city centre yesterday called on the Government to ratify the convention so laws can be brought forward to improve disability rights.

Last week, Disability Minister Finian McGrath asked his Cabinet colleagues to intensify efforts to ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD).

Once the convention is adopted by a country it is required to bring forward legislation to improve disability rights. Ireland was one of the first countries in the world to sign up in 2007 after then UN secretary general Kofi Annan called for the “dawn of a new era” for millions of people living with a disability.

Yesterday, as protesters made their way to Leinster House, senator John Dolan, the CEO of the Disability Federation of Ireland, called for the Government to take urgent action.

“I have become convinced, since I became a senator, that the political system is mainly moved by public engagement, by hard public protest,” he said. “There always seems to be another issue that keeps disability in second or third slot. We have to be more forceful. We have to disrupt people to get sufficient attention.”

Mr Dolan added that more work would have to be done if the convention was ratified.

“There must be more resources and finally, and most of all, a complete change of attitude and culture within our public services,” he said.

“Sooner rather than later our government will ratify the UNCRPD — and this could prove to be a very dangerous time for all of us in the disability community.

“Our government will ‘dine out’, for as many years as possible, on the fact that they have ratified this convention — even after 10 years of promises to do just that.

“Somehow ratification will be seen as an end in itself. It is not the end, it is not our victory. It is the start of a hard campaign to finally become equal citizens, to become people who can fully participate in Irish society.”

Rehab Group, which supports people with disabilities, said ratifying the convention without passing legislation would be an “empty gesture”.