Mr. Gabe Cronnelly:

I thank the committee for offering me the opportunity to speak before it today. For those who do not know me, my name is Gabe Cronnelly. I am married to a wonderful woman, my better half, Raphael. I am a father to three teenage boys and live in a remote and rural part of Galway. I have been an active member of my local community for over four decades and have worked in both the private and public sector. Since 2014, I have been a serving member of Galway County Council for the Athenry-Oranmore municipal district. These are just some of the proudest milestones I have achieved in life thus far.

However, it has not all been plain sailing. Eleven years ago I suffered a life-changing injury that resulted in the amputation of my right leg. An accidental discharge of a firearm by a friend during a cold winter’s day left me in a pool of my own blood out in the middle of a bog in Athenry. There were 13 operations to save my leg. The 14th was to amputate. For many weeks and months after, I was in total despair. I could no longer work at what I used to do.

I felt as though I would be a burden on my family for the rest of my life. Every type of negative thought one could imagine entered my mind during those early days.

However, through the support of family, friends and kind strangers, I found the strength to see the positives in my life. I began to see the opportunities, as a disabled person, to get involved in local community groups, disability organisations, charities and fundraisers. As a person with a disability, I decided that I was not going to allow my disability to hold me back but, rather, that it would spur me on. I turned my disability into my ability to get things done. I became involved in the Irish Wheelchair Association and in Paralympic sports and more deeply involved in my local community and sports clubs to further encourage and support young people with disabilities. I joined Embrace, a survivors network for those who suffered death or disability through farm-related accidents. I devoted more time to groups such as the Athenry Men’s Shed and the Galway Parkinson's Association. All of this helped me to become fit and healthy again, both mentally and physically.

When I look back over the past decade of my life, two things really stick out for me. The first is a sense of belonging. Having support groups and various organisations to contribute to, but also to lean on in times of need, really helped me through some of the hardest times of my life. The second is that I remember when I spoke about strength and that I had to muster up the strength to try to live an independent life.

For too many people in the disability community, independent living is a distant dream and untenable prospect and that is not okay. For too long, our disabled brothers and sisters have been neglected and pushed aside by our broken political institutions. At present, disabled people make up 13.5% of the population and that is expected to increase to approximately 20% by 2026. Our voices must be heard at local level and national level. Currently, only one Member of the Houses of the Oireachtas has a visual impairment. There are gender quotas in place. I would like to see quotas extended to disabilities to achieve a sense of belonging for disabled people. We too should have a reserved place at the decision-making table.

The microaggressions by the State are constant in terms of the inadequacies of public transport for disabled people, the inaccessibility of many buildings and footpaths, the disproportionate levels of poverty affecting people with disabilities and the major challenges facing disabled people in the context of access to voting. The right to vote should extend to everyone, including people with disabilities, such as me. There are serious concerns that people with disabilities are being challenged in polling booths when presenting alongside their assistant or carer. There have also been concerns raised regarding inaccessible entrances to polling stations for wheelchair users, which has created a sense of further exclusion for disabled persons. Serious changes need to be made to ensure people with a disability are not disenfranchised from exercising their democratic right at every opportunity.

My experience of living with a disability has opened my eyes to other marginalised groups with which I regularly work, such as Traveller and migrant groups, in my role as councillor. It is through this exposure to people who are different from me that I have become a mentor with the Immigrant Council of Ireland's internship scheme. I would like to see such a scheme put in place for disabled people. We need to make space for everyone who has a desire to be involved in local and national government. The political representation of disabled people has not improved substantially since the foundation of the State. Disabled people are left wondering whether the policies that affect them could be a little different if they had more of a say. Indeed, such internship schemes could and should be extended to all marginalised groups to achieve a Dáil or Seanad Chamber that looks a whole lot more like the society it governs.

There are a multitude of issues that are discouraging or downright preventative for a political candidate in my position, such as the difficulty in trying to knock on up to 2,000 doors during local elections with a disability, the need to get up and down ladders while putting up posters, attending functions that are not always disability-friendly and planning to get to and from meetings using insufficient public transport. In addition to quotas and internship schemes, funding should be made available to remove these barriers to people with disabilities standing as political candidates.

It can be difficult for people with disabilities who have entered politics here or in Britain to get their voices heard. There is a lot of patronisation and a general belief that only the needs of disabled people are being considered. This is a huge loss to the system because political parties, council chambers, the Seanad and the Dáil are missing out on the experience of including disabled people. This would be valuable to them in terms of policymaking. People with impairments bring solutions to their own difficulties, so not to involve them is a massive loss to us all.

The party whip system further prevents many disabled people from speaking the truth when they disagree with policies that affect them. Impaired people and disabled campaigners, therefore, may fear they will get lost in the party system, with no avenue to ensure their perspectives are fully considered. We need to ensure that diversity and inclusion are at the core of all decisions being made.

I came here today to share my story with the committee in order that it can learn from my experience. I experience my day-to-day life as an amputee and I am here to rally against the marginalisation and microaggressions that the State forces on me every day. I want to raise up the voices of people just like me, and those of other marginalised groups, in order that we too can have a seat at the decision-making table. I believe true change can only come from changing the system and the system has so far failed to meet my needs as a disabled man. If we are to meet the needs of people like me in the future, we need to take progressive steps to realise this change. I thank members for their time and for listening to me.