President Michael D Higgins has led tributes to disability rights activist Martin Naughton, who has died at the age of 62, writes RTÉ Religious and Social Affairs Correspondent, Joe Little.
A native of An Spidéal in the Connemara Gaeltacht, Martin Naughton was diagnosed in childhood with Muscular Dystrophy.
In the 1960s along with his younger sister, Barbara, who had the same condition, he moved from home to live in a residential hospital for disabled children in north Dublin. At the time, it was common for disabled children to be separated from family and community.
Within a few years of arriving at Saint Mary's in Baldoyle, his leadership qualities had blossomed and he began working as a youth leader and coach.
He trained young people with disabilities to participate in sports including swimming. Some of them went on to compete in Paralympic competitions.
He also focused on helping his charges to enjoy the social opportunities, which were available to young people generally.
This involved arranging for peers from the wider Baldoyle community to become involved in their disabled neighbours' activities allowing lasting friendships to be forged across the boundary dividing the institution-cum-home from the wider community.
His friend and fellow-campaigner, Donal Toolan, recalls the impact of those experiences: "Once he tasted what choice felt like, Martin committed his every fibre over next five decades to end the institutionalisation of disabled people through the provision of personal assistance and other supports so that they could exercise their most basic human rights."
In 1990, Mr Naughton helped to found the pioneering Centre for Independent Living which, in turn, established the country's first personal assistance programme to support people with disabilities to live in their communities instead of being confined to institutions.
This support is now available to over 2,000 disabled people throughout the Republic and the Disability Federation of Ireland - which Mr Naughton helped to lead - is campaigning to protect it from HSE cutbacks.
Usually seen with one of a number of his trademark Tuhkeeyeh- style hats, he was also synonymous with Vantastic - the country's first accessible and affordable door-to-door taxi service, which he had the satisfaction of seeing replicated throughout the country.
In 1995, Mr Naughton was given a People of the Year Award. Later he was made an adjunct professor at the Centre for Disability Law in NUI Galway.
Recently, the Minister with responsibility for Disability Services, Finian McGrath, appointed him to a taskforce to explore the delivery of Personalised Budgets, which would allow service-users choose a suite of facilities appropriate to their needs rather than remain confined to accepting what providers offered.
Mr Toolan said his friend's dynamic approach has influenced the choices of thousands of disabled people throughout Europe.
Over a decade ago Mr Naughton organised the first Freedom Drive, bringing disabled people from across the continent to the EU Parliament in Strasbourg. The campaign became a biennial fixture.
Mr Toolan recalls that after the conflict in the former Yugoslavia, Mr Naughton supported many young people to come from Bosnia to Ireland.
Many settled here working as personal assistants with disabled people while also supporting people with disabilities in Bosnia Herzegovina to achieve independent living.
Mr Toolan said his friend was profoundly influenced by the words and actions of Dr Martin Luther King. Last year, Mr Naughton retraced the path in Alabama of the five-day Selma to Montgomery march, which Dr King had led 50 years earlier.
The transatlantic trip also marked the 25th anniversary of the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Mr Naughton used the opportunity presented by the visit to meet US politicians as well as leaders of the US Disability Rights movement and representatives of the King Centre in Selma.
"He did all this with a view to showing the shared journey that those who have had to claim their rights have taken, and how their histories are connected with a common desire to be free," Mr Toolan said.
"Martin Naughton dared people with disabilities to dream ... He also invited them to determine their own destiny with dignity and respect, making choices most citizens take for granted. Martin lived by the credo of the Disability Rights Movement," he added.
Mr Naughton is survived by his sisters, nephews, nieces and a large family of friends including many disabled people throughout Ireland, and beyond.
"They have also come to regard him as a father a brother, and a friend, " Mr Toolan said.
President Higgins described Mr Naughton as "an indefatigable advocate for human rights" who fought for the right of people with disabilities to live in their own communities and homes.
In a statement he said he had learned of the disability rights campaigner's death with great sadness.
He said the Galway man had gained widespread respect through his lifelong campaign for the inclusion of people living with disabilities and through his work with countless statutory and non-governmental organisations.
He singled out for mention the Independent Living movement, the Disability Federation of Ireland, Áiseanna Tacaíochta, Disability Options and Vantastic.
President Higgins added: "Having experienced in his early years the once widespread practice of institutionalised living, he became a formidable and tireless campaigner for the right of people with disabilities to live in their own communities and homes.
"As a political activist, Martin Naughton had the vision, skills and determination to build solidarity between all those who strive for equality, dignity and the fulfilment of human rights for all groups in society, making him a valuable ally for a multitude of social justice groups.
His struggle for equality in Ireland and internationally has been an inspiration."
The President said Mr Naughton will be deeply missed not just by his sisters and family but also by his wide circle of friends and supporters.
