Rights of persons with disabilities: Time to practise what we preach

MONDAY marked the eighth anniversary of Ireland signing the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, yet the Coalition has stubbornly neglected to make it part of our domestic law, despite the fact it was part of the Programme for Government in 2011.

Ireland was one of the first EU member states to sign the convention in 2007, but we have fallen way behind since then. The UK signed in 2009, and we are now one of only three EU states yet to ratify it.

At the very least, the Government should repeal the grossly offensive Lunacy Regulation (Ireland) Act 1871 which is, to say the least, at odds with the convention’s article 12 on equal recognition in law.

The Lunacy Act refers to people as ‘idiot’, ‘lunatic’ and ‘unsound mind’, and there are currently more than 2,500 Irish citizens who are Wards of Court on account of age, intellectual disability, mental illness or brain injury.

This Dickensian attitude may have been tolerated in the past but is unacceptable in a modern, inclusive and democratic society.

The convention is meant to change hearts, minds and attitudes of the general population towards those with disabilities.

It can only do that if all signatory nations ratify it. A civilised nation may rightly be judged by how it treats its most vulnerable members.

It is time for our political leaders to exhibit compassion and leadership by following good intentions with good acts.

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