Capacity2Change Hits Cork for a Major Discussion With Minister Kathleen Lynch and Piers Gooding NUIG

Hi Everyone,                                                                                                 February 26th 2015

When Minister Kathleen Lynch confirmed her attendance for our panel discussion in Cork, we had to re-read the email....a few times.... and then another few times. Not only a government Minister, but Minister Lynch's chief responsibility is for disability older people and equality. As a result,  one of her greatest priorities  is enactment of the Capacity Bill. This gave the event an added and very exciting opportunity to hear directly from a governmental perspective , where exactly the Capacity Bill was in  the process of enactment. (In the next blog post, you can read the associated press release I drafted).

Also, we had been in a lot of contact with the Centre for Disability Law in NUI Galway, during the year - and we were equally delighted when one of their lecturers and associate professors Piers Gooding Ph.D was available to provide his insights at the event too.

A huge thank you needs to be given to UCC , for facilitating the event , but in particular to Ian Hutchinson - chairperson of UCC Young Fine Gael. We really could not have organised the event from Dublin without him !



Minister Lynch  focused on the quality of life of people with intellectual disabilities, dementia and psychiatric illnesses when answering questions about the potential changes the bill will create. When asked about the greatest change that is likely to come,  the Minister referred to the benefit for people with mental health difficulties - as their legal capacity and mental capacity will be assessed as SEPARATE entities  rather than a single entity as is the case now.

The stand out quote from Piers Gooding , was "the civil death...  people with reduced decision making capacity are enduring.... as a direct result of the Lunacy Regulation Act; "a civil death" really sums up the crisis situation we currently have - such people really have no civil rights and no  accommodations currently exist to support decision making and autonomy. Gooding's quote also shows  how movements to encourage enactment of the Capacity Bill, such as Capacity2Change, Inclusion Ireland, Think Ahead,  really draw parallels with the civil rights movements we have seen in the past for other groups - groups who wanted an end to racism, segregation, discrimination of any kind eg: African Americans in the USA. We are seeking the same recognition, the same equality, for people with reduced decision making capacity.  With a year left until the next general election, the time to prioritise such a bill is NOW ! It cannot wait and people who require recognition of basic civil rights cannot wait either!

Overall, we were just delighted with the event: the contributions made by Minister Lynch and Mr. Gooding  as well as the great number of guests who attended. In the Q&A session, questions centred around the major changes this bill would bring and the potential risks to wellbeing.
For now, I'm gonna sign out and try (really try) to upload the fabulous video blog Patricia has put together - including one part we just weren't brave enough to put on facebook .

Please get in touch if you have any questions or comments you want to make about the story so far. We've been delighted with your responses and we really appreciate any insights you want to send our way - yfgcapacity2change@gmail.com

Keep an eye out for the press release in our next post too !

Wishing you all the best.
Kind Regards,
Rachel.