Radio 1 88-90fm
Outside The Box: September 2006 - May 2007
Programme 35: 4th May 2007
Voting for people with intellectual disabilities.
In the coming weeks most of us will experience the knock on the door and the hearty handshake of politicians canvassing for votes. But one section of society is largely excluded from the political process. While everyone over the age of 18 has the right to vote not everyone is able to exercise that right without support. Yesterday Leeanne O' Donnell went along to a workshop given by Inclusion Ireland for people with intellectual disabilities who are interested in voting.
Programme 34: 27th April 2007
Programme 33: 20th April 2007
Programme 32: 13th April 2007
Dave Hinsburger
Sex is everywhere in our society: it's on bill boards, in films, in books, in songs, in plays, even on radio shows....and we're all getting more and more used to talking about it. The old taboos are falling away bit by bit: but there's one area that people still struggle with- the sexuality of people with disabilities, especially those with intellectual disabilities.
Dave Hingsburger is an internationally respected expert on disability and sexuality. He is in Dublin this week to give a conference organised by Down Syndrome Ireland. Dave is with me this evening to talk about his ground breaking work in the area of sexuality and intellectual disability.
Programme 31: 6th April 2007
Programme 30: 30th March 2007
Tom Shakespeare (Repeat)
Tonight's programme featured an in-depth discussion with writer and disability advocate Tom Shakespeare. Tom is Director of Outreach at the Policy, Ethics and Life Sciences Institute at Newcastle University in the UK. He is also one of the UK's leading disability rights advocates and has written on such subjects as disability identity, the sexual politics of disability and end of life issues. His homepage is:
Programme 29: 23rd March 2007
Charities Legislation.
Guests Fergus Finlay CEO Barnados, Deidre Garvey Director of the Wheel, Sheila Norden Director of ICTR
In 2005 Irish citizens donated approximately 450 million euro to charity. That's almost half a billion Euro so you'd like to think we know where the money is going and how its being used. You'd also like to think that a organization calling itself a "charity" has to answer to someone about its activities. But that is far from the case at the moment in Ireland. You may be surprised to hear that the charity sector here is almost entirely unregulated. Amongst other things there is no statutory definition of a charity, no central body for the regulation of Charities, no reliable information on the number of active Charities, and even more worryingly no clear information about the financial worth of existing charities or details about how they spend their funds. All this is set to change with the Governments proposed Charities Legislation, Olan and guests discuss the current situation and how the new legislation could work.
Programme 28: 16th March 2007
Minority Entrepreneurship
Guests Dr. Thomas Cooney, Director of the Institute for Minority Entrepreneurship, DIT Aungier St
Gerry Kerr Student on the course.
Now there's good news for the budding entrepreneurs amongst you - for the first time in Ireland there is a course specifically designed to encourage and support people from minority groups who would like to set up their own business. The Institute for Minority Entrepreneurship is based at the DIT in Aungier St and welcomes people with all kinds of disabilities. With me to talk about the newly established course for Minority Entrepreneurs are the Director of the Institute Dr Thomas Cooney and former teacher Gerry Kerr who has a vision impairment and is attending the course with a view to setting up his own business.
Contact the Institute for Minority Entrepreneurship
Dublin Institute of Technology
Aungier Street
Dublin 2
Tel: +353 1 402 103
Fax: +353 1 402 7198
Email: info@ime.ie
Web: www.ime.ie
Offering minority groups in Ireland equal opportunity through entrepreneurship
Programme 27: 9th March 2007
WAM programme / Willing Able Mentoring
10 years ago there were 400 people with disabilities graduating per year from third level in Ireland, now there are 3,000 disabled people coming out of Ireland's 3rd level institutions every year. But while a lot of progress has been made getting disabled people into University there it is still very difficult for people who want to make the transition from 3rd level to mainstream work- an EU funded project called WAM was set up last year to look more closely at this problem.
Guests Pauline Ryder Director of WAM and Andrew Blair HR Manager with Bank of Ireland Securities.
Disabled Angling- Peirse Bolger who lost his sight 3 years ago takes Leeanne O' Donnell fly fishing in Rathbeggan Lakes Co Meath. . Peirse is organising a special fishing trip for disabled anglers of all levels of ability this Easter in Co Roscommon and he has many more trips planed in both In Ireland and abroad throughout the summer. Anyone with a yearning to learn how to fish or to reawaken an existing talent should get in touch with Peirse on 087 2042080. Or contact Outside the Box and we'll put you in touch.
Rathbeggan Lakes, Dunshauglin, Co Meath
Tel: 01 824 0197, Fax: 01 824 0196, Mr. David Robinson
Email: rathbegganlakes@clubi.ie www.rathbegganlakes.com
Programme 26: 2nd March 2007
Stem Cell Treatment
Guests Professor Frank Barry, Remedi Institute, University College Galway
Dr Brian Sweeney Consultant Neurologist at Cork University Hospital
Colm Whooley, Spinal Injuries Ireland
Celina Daly MS Patient Co Cork
Stem Cell research provokes debate on a number of levels. Following reports that private clinics across Europe and indeed in Ireland have been offering "Stem Cell treatment" to people with disabilities, we ask the experts what the state of play really is with Stem Cell research. Celina Daly who paid for treatment in private clinic in Rotterdam joins us to recount her experience.
Programme 25: 23rd February 2007
Tonight we focus on the experiences of disabled people in third level education and beyond. Specifically, we discuss the Graduates Fair which will happen in the Mansion House, Dublin, on February 28, 2006.
Guests included:
Ann Heelan, Executive Director, AHEAD. (The Association for Higher Education Access and Disability)
Tina Lowe, project coordinator, AHEAD.
Disabled graduates, Niamh Hayes and Frank McGennis.
AHEAD can be contacted on 01-7164395. Website: www.ahead.ie
Programme 24: 16th February 2007
It's been four decades since the drug thalidomide was withdrawn from circulation as a treatment for pregnant women suffering from morning sickness. The catastrophic effects of the drug are well documented, but tonight, three thalidomide survivors discuss how life has been for them over the last 40 years. Tonight's guests were Carmel Daly, Maggie Woods, and Dr Austin O'Carroll.
For people who were, or believe they may have been, affected by thalidomide, and wish to speak to somebody about joining a group, you can contact Dr. Austin O'Carroll on 087-2503643, or Carmel Daly on 059-863-2060.
See also: http://www.thalidomideuk.com/
Programme 23: 9th February 2007
Downs Syndrome Ireland and Day Service Provision.
Today Downs Syndrome Ireland released the findings of a report they commissioned on the provision of Day Services in Ireland. According to the report there are marked inequities n the provision of Day Services across the country. DSI say they there are stories of adults in training schemes being given colouring books and watching TV for most of the day... the HSE funds these Day Services to the tune of between 15- 20, 000 per person per year. So what's happening to the funding and who's making sure the training being offered is up to scratch?
Guests Susan Clarke Independence Officer with DSI
May Gannon Counsellor with DSI and parent of a young adult with Downs Syndrome
Programme 22: 2nd February 2007
Independent living
The term independent living is very precious to those involved in the movement. They differentiate usually between themselves and more traditional disability organisations who, the feeling is, still breed a dependency culture. Most disability organisations lobby for money so that the organisation itself can grow. People involved in independent living belief in direct payments to disabled people, the provision of advocacy services were needed, and the provision of personal assistant and other services as basic human right
Guests
Gordana Rajkov is a newly elected Serbian MP. She's the first person to be elected to parliament on a disability ticket.
Martin Naughton is a wheelchair user and a long-time disability advocate/campaigner. One of the people who brought Centre for Independent Living to Ireland and a champion of the independent living movement. Also works for Disability Federation of Ireland.
Michael Ryan. Manager, Blanchardstown CIL. They have just launched a new DVD and information pack. The DVD is aimed at assisting people with disabilities to explore independent living.
Susie Byrne. Dublin CIL. Personal Disability Advocate.
Barry Mooney is 19 years old and has recently gone out on his own.
Programme 21: 26th January 2007
Access and Mobility Exhibition
Guests Richard Ryder Director of the Access & Mobility Exhibition
Tony Brennan DPMS in Kilkenny (Disabled Persons Mobility Solutions)
Colm Colgan Baileboro Supplies Co Cavan
Over 380,000 people in Ireland suffer from a recognised disability of some description, yet Ireland still remains a relatively inaccessible society for people with disabilities. An exhibition in the RDS in February will showcase products and services of benefit to people with limited mobility. The Access & Mobility Exhibition brings together suppliers, manufacturers and service providers of assistive technology and will be of interest to people with limited mobility, their families, carers and professionals in the healthcare area. The exhibition will take place on Friday 9th and Saturday 10th February 2007 in the Shelbourne Hall of the RDS in Ballsbridge, Dublin 4.
Programme 20: 19th January 2007
Programme 19: 12th January 2007
Henry O' Donnell from Donegal suffers with a rare form of arthritis called Ankylosing Spondylitis- but he didn't let that stop him from being the first person to swim around the island of Ireland. Henry came in to tell Olan about his epic swim.
Integrated Dance Workshops.
Integrated Dance is choreographed dance involving dancers with and without disabilities. Integrated Dance has been established as a respected art form for over a decade in the US and in the Uk and now Ireland has got its first professional Integrated Dance company "Croi Glan."
Tara Brandel and Rhona Coughlan are the co directors of the company.
For people who are interested in getting involved Tara and Rhona will be running more workshops in the South West in the coming months.
The e mail address is integrateddance@yahoo.ie
Check out these integrated Dance Companies. The first is a well established US Integrated Dance company and the second is UK based.
http://www.axisdance.org/about/about.html
http://www.candoco.co.uk/
Programme 18: 2nd January 2007
Tonight we are joined by Graham Bolger, a wheelchair user who has just completed the Gumball 3000 car rally across Europe and the United States.
Programme 17: 26th December 2006
The Office of Public Works is engaged in an extensive programme to make all public buildings accessible over the coming years. Angela Rolfe, assistant principal architect, gives an overview of how things are going and the plans for the future. Also appearing on the program are Mary van Leisout from the National Disability Authority, and Fionnula Rogerson, an architect with particular interest in this area. Plenty of information on access and standards is available from the web site of the National Disability Authority, www.nda.ie
Programme 16: 19th December 2006
Today, we spoke about an integrated sport, recreational and educational programme recently launched by Special Olympics Ireland for Primary Schoolchildren. The web site of Special Olympics Ireland is http://www.specialolympics.ie
Programme 15: 12th December 2006
Paddy Slattery was my very inspiring guest tonight. Paddy suffered a spinal injury 10 years ago and has been a wheelchair user ever since. He has just released his first album, the first single from which is in aid of suicide prevention. You can download the single and contribute to the organisation, ASSIST, by clicking on the following website www.outersounds.ie
Paddy's personal web site is www.paddyslattery.com
Programme 14: 5th December 2006
tonight, we had a wide-ranging discussion on the ever-developing profession of speech and language therapy. Guests included:
Margaret Leahy, Senior Lecturer in Speech and Language at Trinity College Dublin
Aoife Hayden Child Speech and language therapist at Ballinteer Health centre
Ceilia Nichol from the Irish Association of Speech and Language Therapists
Yvonne Fitzmaurice, Speech and Language Therapist, Royal Hospital Donybrook.
Programme 13: 28th November 2006
tonight, the taxi regulator, Mr Ger Deering, gave Outside the Box an update on progress he has made in relation to the provision of an accessible taxi service for all. Also on the line was Tommy Gorman from the National Taxi Drivers Union. See the taxi regulator web site for further information:
Programme 12: 21st November 2006
The UN Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of People with Disabilities was discussed tonight. The text of this document has just been agreed and is about to be submitted for ratification. All of my guests were heavily involved in drafting this convention.
Gerard Quinn, Professor of Law in NUI Galway, Arthur O'Reilly, who was involved in kick-starting the process many years ago, and Donal Toolan , who has observed the process throughout.
Programme 11: 14th November 2006
Tonight, had discussion about how disabled people are portrayed in TV and film. And the guests, Donal Toolan, wheelchair user actor, broadcaster and activist. Julie Fernandez, wheelchair user and actor best known for her part in the Office, Damien O'Donnell, director of Inside I'm Dancing and East is East, and Alison Harnett, who has written interesting papers about portrayals of disability on-screen entitled "Escaping the "Evil Avenger" and the "Supercrip" of Disability in Popular Television."
Programme 10: 7th November 2006
Tonight's program previewed a very important conference taking place in Croke Park on November 22 looking at the accessibility of the built and external environment. The conference is organised by the National Disability Authority. For further details contact the NDA on 01-6080400.
Also tonight, John Dolan from the Disability Federation of Ireland came in to discuss the very important policy and legislative changes currently affecting the world of disability, including the government Sectoral Plans and the Citizens Information Bill.
Further details contact DFI on 454-7978.
Finally, we featured a new program aimed at promoting caring as a career choice. For further details contact Vivienne Gleeson at DHR Communications. vivienne@dhr.ie
Programme 9: 31st October 2006
Tonight, we interviewed Lee Kemp, founder of a disabled strip group in the UK called The Crippendales. Also involved in the interview was Havana Marking, who produced a documentary about the group's first performance.
Also tonight, an interview with representatives from the Tallaght Equal Assist Program, who are working to promote the next would promoting caring as a career choice. For further information, click the following link:
Programme 8: 24th October 2006
Finding quality childcare when you have a child with special needs can be very difficult. One woman, whose son has spina bifida, decided to do something about it by setting up her own web site database of carers. Click on the link to listen to the interview with Grainne ni Uigin. Web site and contact details as follows:
Also featured tonight was a report from the first of all Ireland Down syndrome conference specifically focusing on parents who have recently had children born with Down's syndrome.
Programme 7: 17th October 2006
Following criticism in last week's program about accessibility at stadia in Ireland, Lansdowne Road and Croke Park were given the right to reply. Roddy Guiney spoke on behalf of Lansdowne Road, and Alan Gallagher came in from Croke Park. Have a look at the following websites:
www.lrsdc.ie Lansdowne Road Stadium Development Company
Also tonight, Leanne O'Donnell reported from the first 32 County conference on acquired brain injury organised by The Irish Wheelchair Association and Praxis Care. www.iwa.ie
Finally, Senator Joe O'Toole has recently launched a guide to The Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act for educators and parents. The senator's contact details are as follows:
telephone 01-618 3786
Web: www.joeotoole.net
Email: jotoole@oireachtas.ie
Programme 6: 10th October 2006
The problems encountered by disabled sports fans attending our two main stadia, Lansdowne Road and Croke Park, were discussed in this evening's programme. Apart from featuring two of the most avid Irish export fans, Philip Quinlan and Paul Baxter, there was also an interesting contribution from Phil Downes, chairman of the Disabled Supporters Association in the UK. See their website at the following link: www.nads.org.uk
Programme 5: 3rd October 2006
Tonight we featured an interview with Michael Kendrick, international disability consultant. He spoke about the nature of disability services being delivered in Ireland and around the world and the power balance between those who deliver the services and those who use the services. Michael was in Ireland at the invitation of Cheshire Ireland. Michael has produced some very interesting reading on the status of disabled people in the modern world. It can be accessed at the following website: www.kendrickconsulting.org
We also welcomed Bethan Collins to the program, who spoke about the return of Audioscope to the RTE airwaves. Check out the Audioscope website at the following link: www.rte.ie/radio1/audioscope
Programme 4: 26th September 2006
Tonight, Olan interviewed two elected councillors and candidates for the next general election, both of whom are wheelchair users. Sean Connick, Fianna Fail councillor in New Ross, will go forward for election in Wexford. And in North Kerry, Councillor Terry O'Brien joins the Labour Party ticket.
Programme 3: 19th September 2006
Special education was the subject of tonight's discussion, with a particular focus on primary education. The Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act was passed two years ago, so the panel discussed progress that has been made in the intervening time. Guests included:
Tom O Sullivan INTO Assistant General Secretary
Mairin Barry Primary School Teacher
Ann Heelan from AHEAD, The Association for Higher Education, Access and Disability.
The guests recommended the following links for further information.
www.sess.ie Special Educational Support Service. A resource primarily for teachers, but provides valuable information about special education worldwide.
www.ncse.ie National Council for Special Education. Statutory body providing list of Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENO's) and also information about the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act.
www.education.ie Department of Education
www.ilsa.ie Irish Learning Support Association
www.iatseireland.com Irish Association of Teachers in Special Education
www.ahead.ie Association for Higher Education, Access and Disability. General information for disabled students entering third level.
www.gateway2at.org provides information on assistive technology
www.questforlearning.org more information for students starting in third level
www.into.ie Irish National Teachers Organisation
www.inclusionireland.ie INCLUSION IRELAND, formerly NAMHI, an umbrella group for organisations in the intellectual disability sector, all of which are listed on the site.
Programme 2: 12th September 2006
Tonight's programme featured a discussion on the Task Force for Active Citizenship. How can disabled people become fully active citizens and what does this program offer them? The guests were:
Mary Davis, chairperson of the task force, and Martin Naughton, Disability Federation of Ireland.
We also discussed a new program aiming to promote inclusive lives in childcare and child play facilities in Ireland. The program is being launched by DESSA, the Disability Equality Specialist Support Agency, which is working with community groups throughout the country. www.dessa.ie
Programme 1: 5th September 2006
In this program, we reunited guests who had appeared on the last program of last Outside the Box season back in May. The subject for discussion was holidays and travel for disabled people. What to expect, tips on where to go and how to plan, etc..
When: Friday, 10.02pm
Presented by Olan McGowan
Producer: Gerry McArdle
Contact:
otb@rte.ie
Phone: 01 2082039
Address: Outside The Box, RTÉ Radio 1, Dublin 4
