Trinity Celebrates International Day of People with Disabilities

Posted on: 19 December 2011

The first collaborative event celebrating the ‘International Day of Persons with Disabilities’ took place recently at Trinity College Dublin.  Co-hosted by all four disability centres in the university sector, the National Institute for Intellectual Disability at Trinity College Dublin, the Centre for Disability Studies at University College Dublin, the Centre for Disability Law and Policy at NUI Galway, and the Centre for Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities at the University of Ulster, the event provided a platform for the four disability centres to come together to discuss progressive thinking and practice around the theme ‘Together for a better world for all: Including persons with disabilities in development’.

Contributors from all four of the disability centres in the University sector gathered at Trinity College Dublin to celebrate the ‘International Day of Persons with Disabilities’.

The daylong event, which took place in Trinity’s Long Room Hub, was chaired by project coordinater of Áiseanna Tacaíochta and Co-Executive Director of the European Network of Independent Living, Martin Naughton. Guest speakers included Anna Lawson of the School of Law at the University of Leeds who presented on ‘The Ivory Tower and the Real World: Academia and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities’.  Anna’s presentation was followed by Professor Patricia Noonan Walsh, Professor Emeritus of Disability Studies at University College Dublin who spoke on ‘A Career in Disability Research’. 

Other features of the day included Eithne Fitzgerald, Head of Policy and Public Affairs at the National Disability Authority who outlined a pathway for ‘Translating Research into Policy’.  Professor Gerard Quinn, Director the Centre of Disability Law and Policy at NUI Galway brought the event to a close with a proposal for the establishment of a Disability Studies Association of Ireland. 

The National Institute for Intellectual Disability (NIID) is one of Trinity College Dublin’s most innovative initiatives.  Its mission is promoting inclusion for people with intellectual disability through education, research and advocacy.