Labour Party Motion, March 2009

This speech was read out at the Labour Party Motion Conference in Mullingar on March 29th 2009.

My name is Mary Collins and I am a member of the Jack Fitzgerald branch in Dun Laoghaire.

I have Cerebral Palsy and chronic pain and I’m confined to a wheelchair since birth.

Ireland is one of the few countries within the EU which does not have the Human Rights Commissioner for people with disabilities. The Irish government has failed to ratify the law, which would bring the Human Rights Commissioner into existence for people with disability.

I have been living on my own since August 2000 with the help of 3 personal assistants who help me in every aspect of my daily life.

Without them I would be in an institution and feel like a prisoner with no dignity and freedom. One of my first experiences of adult respite institutionalisation was that I was put to bed at 4pm not because I wanted to go to bed at that time but because I was forced to go to bed at that time. I can recall countless numbers of situations of similar nature.

I was among the first 30 people to get a PA service through the Centre for Independent Living in 1993 so that I could go to Trinity College.

I have since then graduated with a Masters degree in February 2009.

Now most of the PA services are administered through the Irish Wheelchair Association and other service providers.

Through having PAs I have also been able to do voluntary community work.

The Personal Assistants have enabled me to live independently and keep my dignity.

The most recent External Review of the Assisted Living Services states that there are 7000 possible service users yet to be assessed and it is likely that a significant number of these people will be in need of personal assistance. Also there are 600 people waiting for the Personal Assistant Services (Vincent McCarthy, Irish Wheelchair Association External Review 2007).

As the US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg ruling on the decision in Tennessee stated—it is a right and that sometimes you have to treat citizens differently to give them equal dignity. In order to treat all citizens with equal dignity you sometimes have to treat some citizens differently to attain equal dignity and equal rights.

I fear my PA hours will be cut so drastically under the Disability Act 2005 that I would not be able to continue to live independently any more.

Throughout the boom years the government neglected to ring fence funding for people with disabilities.

Now with the economic downturn the government is looking at cutting costs by taking vital services away from people with disabilities.

The Disability Act 2005 is very draconian in nature by insisting that people must apply to their local HSE to keep the services they already have let alone applying for any extra services needed. Under the Disability Act the decision about individual services rests with the head of the local HSE.

I had my hours increased in April 2007 with direct funding from the HSE because up until that time I had to give the PA, who worked on Sundays, 6 hours off while I had to be collected by Accessible Community Transport Southside Transport to spend those hours with my elderly parents.
This was against the Health & Safety Regulations because my parent’s house is not equipped to cater to my needs.

Because of having Personal Assistants, people with significant disabilities in Ireland have been employed and ARE employable.

Also people with Disabilities should have a right to a door-to-door transport, which should be subsidised by the government due to the fact that the public transport isn’t safe or fully accessible. Also it has to emphasised that the ‘normal’ taxis are not accessible or safe and that people with significant disabilities cannot avail of those. Accessible Community Transport Southside (ACTS Ltd.) and Vantastic should be fully subsidised by the government.

I was hoping that someone would make the government realise that most people with disabilities cannot use public toilets because there is no ceiling hoist equipment which would allow my personal assistant to help me safely with the toileting. It is an embarrassing matter for me and millions of people with disabilities who cannot use the public toilets for that reason.

Hope that we will succeed in making vital changes in our public buildings and footpaths and general infrastructure.

Universally designed buildings would provide access to all people.

By providing access for people with disabilities you are also providing access for elderly people and for women with children in the buggy.

At this point in time I feel that I have no right to access certain buildings and amenities which makes me feel less of a person or less important.

I feel that I have no right to use the public toilets because public toilets don’t have a ceiling hoist.

I fear that I have no right to use the local public swimming pool because it has no ceiling hoist. I have no right to be fit and healthy. I only have a right to medical card and drugs.

I want to have a right to access public buildings and public infrastructure just like everybody else.

I propose universal design and access for all people to all buildings.

Thank you for listening to me,

Mary Collins

Monaco's Prince Albert II surprised Irish artist Mary Collins...

Monaco’s Prince Albert attends preview of paintings by Irish artist Mary Collins

St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in Principality focused on gifted painter

On Tuesday 17th March, St. Patrick’s Day, His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco attended the private preview of an exhibition of paintings by Irish artist and poet Mary Collins with a group of specially invited guests. The exhibition, ‘Images of Ireland’ comprising 27 watercolours, is located in the Principality’s famous Princess Grace Irish Library.

In a special message to coincide with the preview, President McAleese praised Mary Collins’ courage and perseverance in overcoming her disability. President McAleese also thanked the Princess Grace Irish Library ‘for its commitment to showcasing the work of one of Ireland’s best disabled artists’.

Mary Collins has been painting since 1990. Despite the considerable handicaps of cerebral palsy and chronic pain, she is now a painter of note and last February she was conferred with an M.A. by Trinity College Dublin.

She lives in Dun Laoghaire where she established the online Blue Wave Art Gallery. It was because of the paintings shown on the Blue Wave website, allied to her growing reputation, that that the Princess Grace Irish Library offered Mary this exhibition, her first outside Ireland.

The exhibition is open to the public for one month, until April 17th and a percentage of the sales will go to the Association Monégasque des Handicapés Moteurs.

Click here to watch Mary being interviewed for Monaco TV (at about 10min into the news):
http://cdp.monaco-telecom.mc/download_video.php?video=0e24724d84d8cbf51319a18e6f46dc8d

Mary Collins was diagnosed with cerebral palsy before her first birthday and has been confined to a wheel chair for most of her life. Instead of letting her illness define her life, she adopted as her motto the advice of a friend: ’Turn your disability into an ability’.

After attending the Central Remedial Clinic School in Clontarf, Ballinteer Community School and the National Training College in Sandymount, she went to Trinity College Dublin where she has recently completed her M.Lit Research Masters degree on Irish Cultural Institutions and their impact on Contemporary Ireland. She was conferred at Trinity College in February.

A true altruist, Mary is involved in many community groups. She was part of the EU EQUAL project, Equality through Ework, sits on the Board of Southside Partnership, is Vice Chair of Accessible Community Transport Southside (ACTS), the Disability Interest Group (DIG) and represents the Community and Voluntary Forum in the Disability Consultative Group (formerly known as the Barcelona Team).

Mary Collins can be contacted through
Blue Wave Arts Gallery at http://www.bluewavearts.ie

For information about the Princess Grace Irish Library and its work for Ireland, visit http://www3.monaco.mc/pglib to contact Judith Gantley.

Dublin People Article

Brave Dun Laoghaire artist opens in Monaco
Sunday, 01 March 2009
THIS St Patrick’s Day will be extra special for a wheelchair bound Dun Laoghaire artist.
Mary Collins will be celebrating the national day at the opening of an exhibition of her watercolours in Monaco at the principality’s Princess Grace Irish Library.
It’s the latest in a series of events and exhibitions organised by the library to celebrate and promote exceptional accomplishments by Irish-linked artists in literature and the visual arts.
Mary has been painting since 1990 and has 11 exhibitions under her belt. Despite the considerable handicaps of cerebral palsy and chronic pain, she’s become a painter of note.
And that’s not all. She’s also a talented poet, and has an MA from Trinity College.
Mary says she took up painting as a way of accessing parts of the world that aren’t so accessible to anyone in a wheelchair.
“It is a wonderful and unexpected opportunity,” she said of the St Patrick’s Day exhibition. “Princess Grace of Monaco holds a special place in my heart and I am overjoyed that my watercolours will be seen in such a prestigious setting.”
Mary lives in Dun Laoghaire and established the online Blue Wave Art Gallery. She hopes her achievements to date will be an inspiration to other people with disabilities.
It was because of the paintings exhibited on the Blue Wave website, allied to her growing reputation, that that the Princess Grace Irish Library awarded Mary this exhibition, her first outside Ireland.
Anne Anderson, Irish Ambassador to Monaco and France, described Mary as “a truly inspiring Irishwoman who has never let her disability hinder her creativity and talent”.
Ms Anderson added that she was delighted that Mary’s work has been chosen to celebrate St Patrick’s Day 2009 in Monaco.