President’s Remarks at Conference for Centre for Disability Law & Policy
'Advancing the National Disability Strategy: Building on Comparative and
International Innovation'
8.15am, Friday, 10th December, 2010
Radisson Hotel, Galway
Event Format
8.15am
Dr Eilionoir Flynn to meet President in Foyer of Radisson. Photos and introductions.
8.30am
Prof. Gerard Quinn acting as MC to call proceedings to order and introduce President.
President’s Remarks and Conference Opening
(Was to be opened by Mr John Moloney, TD - Minister for State for Equality, Disability and
Mental Health - who cancelled 7/12)
8.40am
Dr Eilionoir Flynn will thank and Keynote Address will begin. President to leave
Welcome
Distinguished Visitors, Colleagues, Ladies & Gentlemen:
Delighted to be here this morning to open and formally welcome you to this
important conference, led by my colleagues from NUI Galway's Centre for
Disability Law & Policy.
The theme of this conference - 'Advancing the National Disability Strategy:
Building on Comparative and International Innovation' - is one which has
vital meaning for many Irish people who live with disability.
I am pleased to welcome many leading speakers and contributors to this
conference, particularly the Mr Shuaib Chalklen, United Nations Special
Rapporteur on Disabilty. Thank you for being here this morning.
NUI Galway's Centre for Disability Law & Policy (CDLP)
We in NUI Galway are proud to be a leading global centre of research on
disability law and policy. Under the leadership of Professor Gerard Quinn and
his team, NUI Galway established a Centre for Disability Law & Policy in
2008. This Centre is dedicated to producing research that informs debate on
national and international disability law reform.
The Centre has a vibrant PhD programme and has undertaken a number of
major research projects, including projects on:
- how to best configure national disability strategies and
- how to achieve the personalisation of disability supports.
The Centre contributes directly to policy debates by producing Quarterly Policy
Briefings on topical issues and by making detailed legislative submissions to
Government.
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The CDLP hosts public lectures and seminars for interested stakeholders
throughout the year. In this way the Centre reaches out to people with
disabilities, family members, carers, support organisations, policy-makers,
advocates, researchers and academics. With the establishment this year of the
Centre’s Local Consultation Group, the CDLP will ensure that its work is
relevant to people with disabilities in our local community, in addition to gaining
a national and international profile for the Centre.
Lifecourse Institute in NUI Galway
The CDLP is part of an ambitious Social Sciences Research Programme at NUI
Galway. As such it is a key element in the new Lifecourse Institute on campus:
an alliance between
- the Centre for Disability Law & Policy
- the Irish Centre for Social Gerontology and
- the Centre for Child and Family Research.
This alliance aims to advance an integrated approach to policy and services
research for older people, children and families, and people with
disabilities. The Lifecourse Institute has received enthusiastic endorsement
from:
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- within the sector,
- from the University,
- as well as from Atlantic Philanthropies, which support the establishment
of the Institute on campus.
Conceptually, the Lifecourse Institute marks an innovative approach in the social
sciences by establishing the lifecourse, or lifecycle, as the key framework of
reference for understanding existing vulnerabilities and inequalities in society.
This Conference: Advancing Ireland’s National Disability Strategy:
Today's conference has evolved from the Centre for Disability Law and Policy’s
proposal to undertake a Baseline Study of Disability in Ireland - which is one
of the main research projects in the Centre. Supported by Atlantic
Philanthropies, the study will highlight the goals of Ireland’s National Disability
Strategy and work towards its implementation.
As a research project, it also contains a major comparative study on the
implementation and monitoring processes for Disability Strategies and Action
Plans worldwide.
Led by Dr. Eilionóir Flynn the study undertakes a detailed examination of the
structure of Irish disability law and policy, using the implementation and
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monitoring processes of the National Disability Strategy as a starting point. This
project complements ongoing work by bringing fresh perspectives to the
implementation process – using the principles of the UN Convention on the
Rights of Persons with Disabilities as guidance for future reform.
Conclusion / Thanks
On behalf of my colleagues at NUI Galway's Centre for Disability Law & Policy, I
wish you all a most productive and stimulating conference. Your deliberations
and reflections will continue to guide and shape disability law and policy, in
Ireland and beyond. I wish you well in this important task.
-ENDSWord count: 650 = approx. 4-5 mins
Liz McConnell
7/December 2010
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