Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

People with disabilities are real people with real potential and it is only fair that they should have the same rights as everyone else. That is how we should evaluate society and the Proclamation of the Republic of 1916 is clear on the matter. It addresses itself to Irish men and Irish women. It does not include the words "except if you have a disability". One of the participants in the WALK PEER project is a young woman who recently gained a place in college and is flourishing. A young man wants to be an usher in Leinster House. He is currently employed part time in the Westcourt Hotel in Drogheda. The manager told us that the entire staff had changed their attitude to people with disabilities as a result. A young woman who was suicidal is now training to be a make-up artist. Her mother told us at a briefing here how she had intervened as her daughter tried to take her own life. She is now a different person. Why does the Government not underpin this work?

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