Cara Darmody begins 50-hour protest to highlight disability assessment delays

Fourteen-year-old disability campaigner Cara Darmody stages a 50-hour protest against the backlog in the assessment of needs (AON) system outside Leinster House, Dublin, ahead of the motion AON which will be heard in the Dail on Tuesday evening. Picture date: Tuesday May 20, 2025.

Tipperary youngster Cara Darmody has vowed to "win and end disability discrimination" as she begins a 50-hour protest at the gates of Leinster House.

Cara, aged 14, from Ardfinnan in Co Tipperary, said the Disability Act has been "systemically broken" for almost a decade as delays for assessments of needs look set to reach 25,000.