The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe last week adopted a Recommendation that seeks to increase the participation of persons with disabilities in political and public life at all levels − local, regional, national and international. The Recommendation is available here. Between 80 – 100 million persons with disabilities live in the 47 Member(…)
Today in World Mental Health Day – and it provides us in Ireland with a lot to think about in terms of the way in which mental health services are provided and how our mental health laws are constituted. The key policy document on mental health is entitled “A Vision for Change” and the Expert(…)
An alliance of human rights groups has spoken out against the forced sterilisation of women with mental disabilities in France. See here and here. Last week the Center for Reproductive Rights, European Disability Forum, Interights, International Disability Alliance and Mental Disability Advocacy Center; submitted written comments to the European Court of Human Rights in the(…)
We are delighted to welcome another guest post from Noelin Fox. Noelin is a Ph.D candidate in the Centre for Disability Law and Policy, NUI Galway. Her research examines the right to independent living provided for in Article 19 of the UN Convention on the Rights of with Disabilities. Noelin has worked for many years in(…)
We are delighted to welcome this post from the Directors of the Lifecourse Institute at National University of Ireland Galway. The Directors are Professor Pat Dolan Academic Director of the Lifecourse Institute & Director Child & Family Research Centre; Professor Tom Scharf Director of the Irish Centre for Social Gerontology and Professor Gerard Quinn Director(…)
Prime Time last night broadcast footage shot during a four-month investigation of professional carers who provide services in private residential settings. What was clear from last night’s report was that the professional care provided to persons in their own homes was anything but professional. The report highlighted the lack of training of carers, abuse of vulnerable(…)
There has been a justified lack of trust amongst the disability community who have been at the sharp end of cuts to funding this past year. See posts here and here. As Mary Keogh pointed out persons with disabilities had every reason to fear this budget (see here). Those fears became a reality when the(…)
Two important new reports have been published this month which may be of interest to readers. Travellers’ Health Matters (available here with an accompanying briefing on Traveller accommodation and planning) links poor halting site accommodation to depression, anxiety, diabetes and kidney problems. Findings on the terrible living conditions at the Carrowbrowne halting site are available here.(…)
A rather curious survey by the Guttmacher Institute (a pro-availability of abortion non-profit organization) has cited Ireland and Poland (which in 1997 re-instated law outlawing abortion except when mother’s life at risk or she had been raped) as the only developed countries in the world where there is not adequate access to abortion, presumably because it(…)
