Sinead Burke, Tilting the Lens and Siobhan McKenna, Head of Equality, Diversity & Inclusion at the Public Appointments Service take part in this panel event.
They will be joined by Senator Tom Clonan and A Day in My Wheels (@spinalinjuriesireland), where they will be discussing reasonable accommodation and how employers, public spaces and businesses can make small but meaningful changes that make a massive difference to people’s lives.
Central to these changes are how best to allow people with disabilities to enjoy equal opportunities and how designers can and should include that approach as a basis for good design.
Spinal Injuries Ireland also joins this panel. Every week, 3 people in Ireland suffer a spinal cord injury (SCI). SCI’s are a life-changing prognosis both for themselves and their families and the start of a long and arduous journey. As Ireland’s only one-to-one support service for people with a SCI, Spinal Injuries Ireland provide a range of specific services and resources which help people and their families adapt to life after the devastation of a SCI and bring this knowledge and experience to bear on this panel discussion.
Senator Tom Clonan is a retired army officer, university lecturer and recently elected Senator to Seanad Éireann. Tom has campaigned to end gender-based discrimination and gender-based violence in the Irish armed forces and was a member of the HEA Expert Group on ending bullying, sexual violence, and sexual harassment in Irish universities and is an advocate for children and young adults with disabilities.
Dr Ger Craddock is the inaugural Chief Officer of the Centre for Excellence in Universal Design and is also bringing a wealth of experience to bear on this discussion. The Centre for Excellence in Universal Design is a statutory body established by the Irish Government in 2007. The Centre and its highly experienced team is focused on enabling the design of environments that can be accessed, understood and used regardless of age, size and ability. Key domain areas covered by the Centre are the built environment, products and services, and information and communication technologies (ICT).
Additional Information
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Advanced booking required
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Suitable for all audiences
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Wheelchair accessible
- Step Free Access with ramps and lifts
- Accessible Toilets
- Closest accessible parking is at https://www.parkrite.ie/carparks/city-quay
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The livestream will have live captioning and some visual descriptions.
Disability is articulated as a struggle, an unnecessary burden that one must overcome to the soundtrack of a string crescendo. But disabled lives are multi-faceted - brimming with personality, pride, ambition, love, empathy, and wit
Sinead Burke
We, as a family, have experienced what is like to have a disability in Ireland. Ireland is the worst country in the European Union in which to have a disability. May God help you if you have a disability or if you are a carer here. It should not be like that, and it does not have to be like that.
Senator Tom Clonan
