Here it is , our first post this autumn, and wow has it been a busy one.
Firstly, we have a stellar new committee with individual and collective responsibilities and a plan that needs to be executed before early spring when General Election 2016 happens.
Lots to do, so here's the story so far.
1. Leinster House Protest
From September 15th-17th , Disability rights activists staged a 3 day protest outside government buildings to campaign for a number of key equality issues including enactment of the Capacity Bill. I headed down to interview the protesters , including: Paddy Connolly, CEO of Inclusion Ireland, Cormac Cahill Communications Director of Inclusion Ireland and Dara (pictured below)
Dara spoke about his desire to receive direct payments and see the Capacity bill enacted. I also met with other individuals (who did not wish to be photographed) who spoke about their personal experiences of the criminal justice system, and how victims of crime (particularly abuse) with reduced capacity, are treated.
Some of the stories were horrific , and I will be re-contacting some of these individuals in the near future to follow up on their stories, offer support, and ultimately dovetail with their campaigning. The whole experience was quite intense, and a complete first as I have never formally interviewed people before; so thank you to all the individuals who shared their stories.
Another interesting finding from my interviews was that many of the protesters wished to see the Capacity Bill enacted. They demonstrated a general, if not a vague, understanding of its main principles but there is certainly a lot of work to be done to get a clear message out into the general public consciousness about what exactly the Capacity Bill entails , and what it means in terms of its impact on everyday functioning.
That's where I see Capacity2Change making a real difference in the next few weeks and months. Our work will be a tight tension between political lobbying and public engagement - sending out a clear and strong message to the public about what the Capacity Bill is , in essence, and why it matters to all of us.
The Capacity Bill matters to all of us , basically because as human beings all of us have capacity , and yet in equal measure we are all at risk of losing such capacity during life or at birth. So , in the interest of personhood and autonomy - we need to see laws like the Lunacy Regulation Act (1871) abolished - we need to copper-fasten dignity, respect and autonomy into Irish legislation so we can escape a current legislative situation that actually facilitates neglect of the human rights of individuals with reduced capacity.
2. Committee Meetings and Decisions
Following on from the Leinster House protest revelations, it was clear that public awareness and political lobbying needed to be intensely prioritised between now and the time of enactment of the Capacity bill , so we proposed the following medium term plan
- Secure a meeting with Minister Frances Fitzgerald
- Organise a public meeting where the basic essence of the Capacity Bill would be discussed pre-enactment of the Capacity Bill.
- Organise a more in-depth panel discussion with key experts, post enactment of the Capacity Bill
