People with disabilities, their families and advocates protested outside the Dáil last Thursday because Ireland is now the only country in the European Union that has not ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (UNCRPD).

The protest was organised by Joanne O’Riordan from north Cork. She accused the Government of denying full equality to 600,000 people with disabilities in Ireland.

I paged through the two Sunday papers that come into our house to find no mention or analysis as to why my country has not ratified the UNCRPD. To be honest, I’m not surprised. Affording rights to people with disabilities is just not a priority for this Government or previous governments. The lip service goes on. The excuses are trotted out, one being that legislation must be changed. In my view, culture must be changed. The time has come for commitment.

The place for legislation to be changed is in Leinster House and our politicians are the people who can make this happen. I have been an advocate for the rights of people with disabilities for over 30 years and I’m angry at the insidious procrastination that has been the hallmark of the last 10 years. Weren’t we wonderful to be first out of the traps back in December 2006 to sign the first human rights treaty of the 21st century. It put us out there with a serious statement of intent. Then what happened? The years started to roll by – 10 of them. And the ministers responsible – four of them drawn from different philosophies: Fianna Fáil, the Greens, Labour and Independent – did not complete the ratification process.

We have several documents on policy relating to people with disabilities. Much of it is sound policy but it is not worth the paper it’s written on without commitment to the overarching convention of protecting the rights of people with disabilities in their daily lives.

Embarrassed and left behind

Over the last 10 years, country by country has ratified the convention, accepting that people with disabilities had rights to education, to work, to have their health needs met and even have a choice about where they live and with whom they want to live. Ratifying the convention means that laws that are discriminatory towards people with disabilities have to be removed or changed. Questions are being asked about Ireland at EU level. We remain behind and embarrassed.

I’m left wondering if Ireland’s signing back in 2006 was a statement of intent or if it was just to placate the activists of the day? You see, people with disabilities get tired. Their families get tired. There comes a day when they just accept poor services and empty promises for what they are. I’m feeling a bit of that this week. People with disabilities are a small group and are easily ignored in light of a bus strike, turmoil in the gardaí, Brexit threats, a housing crisis and so on. Minister Finian McGrath was out quick: Ireland must put in place several pieces of legislation before it can ratify the UNCRPD. He is determined that the convention will be ratified soon but only when necessary legislation is in place. It’s a bit of a chicken and egg situation. Ratification will force legislation. Legislation first means politicians control the time frame and we know the outcome of that.

Family story

I have been working for the rights of people with disabilities since Julie was diagnosed with cerebral palsy almost 30 years ago. The arrival of Diarmuid with Down’s syndrome took my work as an advocate to a new level. I found a home for my voice in Inclusion Ireland and served on the board for 14 years. I was involved with a wonderful set of colleagues across organisations who were working to bring about change. I remember when we got an education bill in 2004 followed by a disability bill in 2005/6. We were euphoric. Our feelings quickly turned to dismay when we found out that the timelines in the bill were as far away as 2020. It seemed a lifetime away. We rallied against it and expressed our disaffection. But the timelines for implementation remained.

What does the convention do?

The convention was adopted by the UN general assembly in 2006 to ensure that attitudes towards people with disabilities can change so that people with disabilities can enjoy the same human rights as everyone else. It provides the mechanism to promote, protect and guarantee the rights of all people with disabilities across all areas of life. The convention contains no new rights. It brings together all of the existing international human rights treaties into one document.

A body of independent experts known as the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has been set up to monitor the implementation by the various countries.

It is incumbent on all of us to add our support to the long-overdue ratification of this convention so that people with disabilities can enjoy the same human rights and freedoms as the rest of us. In other words, keep the pressure on our public representatives to get the convention ratified. It will also illustrate to people with disabilities that we value their contribution to society and care about their participation and their human rights. CL