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5 November 2016

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Disability rights conference in Louth hears ‘Brexit will take us backwards’

BREXIT would have a disastrous impact on the rights of people with disabilities, Sinn Féin MEP Martina Anderson said on Friday in County Louth at a major conference she was hosting to discuss the impacts of the Westminster EU referendum.

The ‘Unite For Rights’ conference was launched by Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams TD and brought together a range of experts from across Europe to examine disability rights.

Among those taking part in the conference were:-

  • Les Allamby, from the North’s Human Rights Commission;
  • Monica Wilson, Disability Action;
  • British Labour Party MEP Julie Ward; and
  • An-Sofie Leenknecht, Human Rights Officer with the European Disability Forum.

Disability rights conf Nov 2016 Kyla Hollywood

Kyla Hollywood, Campaigns Officer with Trailblazers (Muscular Dystrophy network of young disabled campaigners), at the conference with Matt Carthy MEP, Martina Anderson MEP and Mickey Brady MP

Speaking at the conference, North of Ireland MEP Martina Anderson said:

“We face the challenges of austerity, the failure to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the British Government’s plan to scrap the Human Rights Act, and we face Brexit.

“It is shameful and unacceptable that the Irish Government has not ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

“It has taken decades to build rights and protections, to put people at the centre of policies, whether at a European level or indeed here in Ireland.

“Brexit will take us backwards. We need to unite to protect those rights.”

disability rights conf Nov 2016 GA speaks

Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams TD said that ensuring the rights of disabilities are protected is crucial to creating an equal society.

“We cannot have a fully inclusive republic without respect for diversity and the achievement of social equality by citizens who have been excluded.

“We have to be about ensuring equal rights and equal opportunities for all citizens. This means ensuring that citizens with disabilities can play a full and independent part in all aspects of life, relying, as far as possible, on mainstream services for health, education and employment but with the support of tailored disability services where necessary.”

disability rights conf Nov 2016 crowd

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