On Friday morning I took part in the ‘Access for All Hustings’ in the ILAS Building in NUIG between 11am and 1pm.
8 General Elections Candidates in total turned up at the Election , primary objective of which was ‘Making Disability a Priority in Election 2016’
That this should be necessary one hundred years after the 1916 proclamation declared ………” its resolve to pursue the happiness and prosperity of the whole nation and of all its parts, cherishing all the children of the nation equally….”
..speaks volumes.
Speaker after speaker representing different groups and organizations including Access for All, Disability Federation of Ireland, Older Persons Council and the Centre for Independent Living clearly highlighted the utter failure by this government and previous governments to live up to their promises.
Given this neglect and given that people with disabilities are the largest minority group in Ireland and the only group that any one of us can become a member of at any time, their objectives and demands were moderate in the extreme!
Amongst other objectives, the groups seek the establishment of a Cabinet Minister for Disability Inclusion, Fair Income and Work Opportunities and the ratification of the United (UNCRPD)-hardly revolutionary demands and yet each government has utterly failed to address these issues.
As a candidate I have no hesitation in supporting these objectives and would also like to highlight that the Disability Federation of Ireland Briefing Paper points out that implementation of their program would actually save money in the long term!
On Friday afternoon three of us canvassed at the Moycullen Market and also two estates.
Then Friday night we canvassed Claddagh, Beach Court, Grattan Court,OceanWaveand Munster Avenue with a very good turn-out of canvassers and a very positive response.
Last night we met at the Clybaun Hotel and did both sides of the ClybaunRd below the roundabout-moderate turn out of canvassers!
Today four teams including myself are heading out to canvass outside a number of churches in Conamara including GortMór, Rosmuc, Camus, Carraroe, An Cnoc, Moycullen, Killanin and Oughterard
This afternoon I hope to do a small personal canvass with a member of family in Barna and tonight back again to the Clybaun Hotel at 6.30pm.
As you can see the campaign is going well and there is no shortage of energy but we need to keep a good turn-out of canvassers in the evening as we are tiring a little! Only 11 nights canvassing left and we can do it!!!!Remember meeting point tonight is the Clybaun Hotel at 6.30pm.
