Sligo Disabled Persons' Organisation celebrates its first full year

THE Sligo Disabled Persons' Organisation (DPO) is celebrating its first complete calendar year as it looks forward to its AGM on Wednesday, February 21.

Applying the Social Model of disability, the Organisation has sought to increase public awareness that disability is not about their members' various impairments but about the challenges that come from interacting with disabling environments. DPO Chair, Mark Kupczak explains, “Disabled Persons' Organisations have a special role under the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. We are an organisation of disabled people advocating for ourselves, working towards the full implementation of disabled rights here in Sligo.”

Taking this role seriously, the group has raised awareness over transport, highlighting the need for rail services between Sligo, Galway and Limerick and for more wheelchair friendly buses. They have made submissions to the Sligo Greenway Consultation, the Draft Sligo County Council Disability Inclusion and Access Strategy and are in the process of preparing a submission for the Green Paper on Disability Payments that has issued from the Department of Social Protection.

Speaking as part of a video series that the DPO put together with support from the Sligo Public Participation Network (PPN) and under the leadership of Peter Kearns of the Independent Living Movement of Ireland (ILMI), DPO secretary, Pippa Black said, “As a DPO, we have a job to do with public relations and it is getting that word out there, listen to us, respect our autonomy, and when we say we need something, we need it. So, let's negotiate, let's make those things happen, that's what we're for.”

The DPO will be re-sharing all six videos on their Facebook page in the run up to their AGM, which takes place in the boardroom of the Northside Community Centre from 10am on Wednesday, February 21st. Any disabled person with lived experience in County Sligo is welcome to join the organisation.

Membership is free and forms are available by emailing SligoDPO@gmail.com.