Maman Poulet | Clucking away crookedly through media, politics and life

Freedom Driver

November 1st, 2012 · Disability

I came across this short film recently featuring Dara Gallagher, a man I have yet to meet but know online and as a commenter on this blog. Dara is a great story teller and resident of Temple Bar and exponent of the importance of independent living.

The film has was highly commended in the Radharc Awards recently and also a finalist in the ICCL Human rights Film awards. It was directed by Fran Cassidy and Director of Photography was Peter O’Doherty.

Freedom Driver (short) from Francis Cassidy on Vimeo.

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Draft Disability Residential Standards published

October 26th, 2012 · Disability, Equality, Social Policy

The Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA)  have begun a period of consultation on draft standards for residential services for children and adults with disabilities. This is the second time there has been consultation on standards in this area with the previous draft published in 2009 without implementation.

HIQA say that the standards set out a vision as to what people can expect from good quality residential services. There are 31 seperate standards proposed for both children’s and adult services and each standard has examples of features that service providers (public, private and voluntary) will be expected to demonstrate not only in inspections but also in terms of service provision agreements and complaints by those living in services, families and advocates.

There is no confirmation of a date when the standards will be implemented or about the budget required for inspections and also service delivery which will meet the standards.

The consultation is open to all interested parties and full information is available on the HIQA website in many formats. (A short video from HIQA is included below)

Responses are invited online and in other formats – hopefully current and former service users and their connections will also be able to contribute. The closing date for responses is November 21.

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Changes to RTE News and Current Affairs

October 25th, 2012 · MSM, Social Media

RTE’s new managing director of News and Current Affairs Kevin Bakhurst is settling in and yesterday announced changes to the station’s output that will take place early next year.

Claire Byrne and George Lee join Prime Time, RTE 1 will get a new morning news programme from 9 until 11 am and The Week in Politics will be broadcast earlier on a Sunday and repeated later that night. (Sean O’Rourke will be happier given his frequent jibing at the late hour of transmission for the programme, also they are less likely to be caught by the ‘hung by pre-record’ that affected the show last Sunday after Enda’s chat with Angela Merkel. Now if Kevin can sort the programme’s chronic dose of RTE Testicles I would be a very happy viewer. )

The role of RTE News Now which is now available to people on UPC (Channel 200) as well as online via apps and website and the area of digital news generally is one which Bakhurst has outlined as being pivotal to future developments.  He says that RTE have aspirations to providing a successful Irish Television news channel.  There’s talk of using smartphones and wifi to deliver news and give faster news gathering. This would mean that we might actually get to see news as it happens like the IMF arriving into Ireland and political heaves rather than have to suffer un-interruptable Fair City.  (Remember November 2010?)

Look forward to more discussion of the developments on this side of news output and to see increased inclusion of voices outside of Dublin in news and current affairs in addition to the generally good job done in Six One.  Also it would be an excellent idea for all the editorial guidelines which have been introduced and revised of late to be published and available to all to see.

The new season of Prime Time already shows a bit more oomph and diversity in the items covered (but less of the sofa and Quinn PR’s please?) however we have still to see what the plans for investigative journalism and reporting will be after the cancelling of Prime Time Investigates.

Surely though it cannot be long now till they really get sense in Montrose and bring back Questions and Answers? Pretty Please? (The begging worked with Saturday View‘s metamorphosis into Saturday with Claire Byrne on RTE Radio 1).

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‘Branching Out’ – a play exploring sexuality and relationships

October 25th, 2012 · Disability, Equality

Tickets are now on sale for ‘Branching Out‘ – an original play by the Connect People Network’s Inside Out group. This play explores sexuality and relationships within the lives of people with extra support needs. The play takes place on 4 November from 4pm – 6pm in Smock Alley in Dublin.  After the interval there will be a discussion and interview with the actors led by actor and disability activist Donal Toolan.

Tickets can be purchased

Connect People Network  ‘aims to help everyone learn about ways that people with extra support needs can be supported to learn about relationships and sexuality. We also want to make sure that the people who do this supporting do so in the safest and best way possible.’

 The term ‘Extra Support Needs’ may be new to a lot of people – it was picked by the group to be used instead of ‘mentally impaired’ or ‘intellectual disability’.
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Guest Post: Rally for Recognition: Identity, NOT Disorder

October 15th, 2012 · Uncategorized

Guest post by Cat McIlroy, Trans* Education & Advocacy [TEA]

Trans* Education & Advocacy [TEA] has recently been established by a small but dedicated group of 6 volunteers as a grass roots community organising collective committed to supporting, engaging, empowering and advocating for the trans* community in Ireland. Through our diverse voices and identities we seek to address issues from a different perspective using inclusive activities, creative media and innovative training to educate and inform about trans* people and our experiences. Our goal is to advocate for trans* rights and help bring forward positive social change for trans* people. For more information, visit www.transgender.ie

Being gay used to be a mental illness… being trans* still is.

Although the lesbian, gay and bisexual communities have experienced significant progress in the Irish legal and social spheres in recent years, trans* people have been left behind. In 2012, legal gender recognition and relationship and family recognition for trans* people still do not exist. Trans* human rights and equality issues have not been adequately or appropriately addressed by successive Irish governments.

The government’s Gender Recognition Advisory Group (GRAG) report to Minister for Social Protection, Joan Burton, last June outlined recommendations for a scheme to allow transgender people to apply for legal recognition in the form of gender marker change on their birth certificates. The GRAG recommends that applicants must fulfil the medical criteria of Gender Identity Disorder (GID) diagnosis or present evidence of gender reassignment surgery. GID is classified as a mental illness, and the diagnostic criteria is prohibitively restrictive, specifically exempting intersex people as well as many trans* experiences.

On Saturday 20 October 2012, TEA will mark International Day of Action for Trans* Depathologisation with the Rally for Recognition in Dublin. The main goal is to provide a space for trans* people to be visible, voice their concerns about Irish legislative proposals, and actively engage in action that will energise and empower them to speak out about their right to be recognised without pathologisation or further delay by the Irish State.

International Day of Action for Trans* Depathologisation

The Rally for Recognition: Identity, NOT Disorder in Dublin is part of a global campaign. Every October since 2007, the Stop Trans Pathologization [STP-2012] Campaign has called an International Day of Action for Trans* Depathologisation, with demonstrations held in cities world-wide. Last October, activist groups in 70 cities throughout Asia, Europe, Latin America, North America and Oceania held protests, rallies and other actions. For the first time this year, Ireland will hold a public event.

The STP-2012 Campaign demands:

  1. Removal of ‘Gender Dysphoria’/’Gender Identity Disorder (GID)’ categories from the international diagnostic manuals.[1]
  2. The abolition of binary normalisation treatments on intersex people.
  3. Free access to hormonal treatments and surgery (without psychiatric monitoring).
  4. Public coverage of trans*-specific health care.
  5. The fight against transphobia: educational training, social inclusion and employment for trans* people, as well as the visibility and reporting of all types of social or institutional transphobia.

The campaign aims to raise awareness that trans* identities are still considered mental disorders and demands the depathologisation of trans* identities. For more information, visit: http://www.stp2012.info/old/en

Rally for Recognition: Identity, NOT Disorder

We hope that the Rally for Recognition: Identity, NOT Disorder will harness the positive community engagement and momentum garnered from the recent 4th European Transgender Council held in Dublin, co-hosted by Transgender Equality Network Ireland (TENI) and Transgender Europe (TGEU). The Rally will enable people to come together to specifically express their concerns with the GID diagnosis or surgery requirement in the government’s current proposals for Gender Recognition legislation.

As the ILGA-Europe Conference is taking place in Dublin (18-21 October), we hope that delegates, LGBTI activists, trans* people, allies and friends from across Ireland and Europe will join us outside the gates of the Irish Parliament to demand the introduction of inclusive and respectful Gender Recognition legislation that will not enshrine the pathologisation of trans* identities in Irish law. TEA has invited a number of people to speak at the Rally including representatives from BeLonG To, Gay Doctors Ireland (GDI), ILGA-Europe, LGBT Noise, TENI, Transgender Europe (TGEU), and Union of Students in Ireland (USI).

TEA will host a placard-making session on Wednesday 17 October in Exchange Dublin from 6.30-9pm for individuals who may wish to make signs for the Rally and all trans* people and allies are welcome to attend.

Rally for Recognition: Saturday 20 October 2012, Dáil Éireann, Kildare Street, 2.30pm

Identity, NOT Disorder… Be there to help and support your trans* friends to get that changed.


[1] The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) of the American Psychiatric Association is due to be revised in 2013 and the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD) of the World Health Organisation in due for revision in 2015.

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