Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 22 October 2025

Committee on Disability Matters

Participation in Community Life for Persons with Disabilities: Discussion

2:00 am

Photo of Ruairí Ó MurchúRuairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Cuirim fáilte roimh na finnéithe go léir. It is great to have everyone here. The whole idea for many of us is that sport is involvement in community. For some of us, it can be very competitive. Some of us would like to be more competitive than we are, but that is a different kettle of fish. I agree with Deputy Keogh. It is no shock that the GAA is here on a day like this, particularly on the basis of the all-star programme. I have seen High Five in boxing. We need to see that across the board, while also facilitating as many children and adults as possible into general participation.

I will direct my questions to Mr. O'Brien. It is good to see him. Disability cycling is something that I fell into. Representatives from the Louth Disability Cycling Club are in the Gallery. Paul, Sandra, Daniel and Kevin are here. I have said it before, namely that Paul sort of volunteered me. Politicians will show up to anything. They will get in a picture for anything, but this was something that was particularly good. The club has been able to provide for a huge cohort of people. We are talking about adults and children, those with disabilities from the point of view of mobility issues, sometimes incredibly severe, right through to autistic children and those with intellectual disabilities. It was about making them comfortable. The club had certain disability bikes. Some required a pilot, such as a trishaw or whatever. In some cases, kids were able to move from these disability bikes to regular bikes. What the club created for parents was somewhere they could go that took them away from the battle in relation to services. The club was able to get something that was healthy and had involvement in the community. It has all been very positive.

I will go to Mr. O'Brien because Louth Disability Cycling Club has worked almost hand in hand with him. It is about the mobility programme for individuals that they can get bikes, but it is also about creating sustainable disability groups. We know we have a battle there. We are engaging with Louth County Council and himself in the context of delivering it. What we need to see across the State is disability hubs, centres and homes for disability groups being put in place. We need to see groups like Louth Disability Cycling Club all across the country.