Mr. Padraig Mallon:

The challenges of rural Ireland were mentioned and Ireland is largely a rural country as we know. Ms Buckley's family lives in the country. Transport and accessing services is a significant part of the work for all of us.

As Ms Jarvey said, isolation is a significant issue for families, especially for children, teenagers and adults with a disability, whether in a congregated setting or in the home. We provide the simplest of programmes where we bring people together for a summer camp or to take part in our successful drama group that meets every Saturday morning. The drama group works with both children and adults with disabilities and the facilitators find that the value is not so much that participants are learning how to excel in Hollywood or on Broadway, but that they have the opportunity to come together and be around peers. They value that more than anything else. It is also an opportunity for parents to come together, so one simple activity such as the theatre group has a multiplier effect. The child or adult has the opportunity to participate, their confidence and networking skills grow, they learn how build social capital from an early age but, most important, for the parents who drop them off or choose to stay around, there is a significant upside for them because they get the opportunity to meet people like me, or I mean like-minded parents rather than people like me. The opportunity for people to come together, share experiences and grow is of huge value. The rural challenges that were mentioned are significant. Isolation is a real issue for many people but it is more pronounced in rural settings.