With General Election 2016 fast approaching, now is the time for people with disabilities and their families to get active on issues that affect them. We need people with disabilities voices to be heard nationwide in the various debates around the 2016 General Election. This is not only because 1 in 8 Irish people have a disability but, more importantly, because they are deeply affected by so many of the issues at the heart of political debate. As members of Disability Federation of Ireland (DFI) we are encouraging you to support and get involved with their election campaign, ‘Disable Inequality’. The campaign is all about YOU, and YOUR story.
Election 2016 is an opportunity to create a fairer and more inclusive society where people with disabilities are treated on par with other Irish citizens.
Ready to take action?
Then there are five simple ways to get involved with the Disable Inequality campaign.
1. DFI are seeking people with disabilities and their families to share their own experiences. By telling your own story we can highlight the everyday difficulties and challenges that people with disabilities encounter throughout Ireland. Your story can be submitted in any format, it could be a photograph, a tweet, a video, text, a Facebook post. This doesn’t have to be a long story you could tell your story in 3-5 sentences sharing who you are, an issue you want to raise and posing the question ’Does that seem fair to you?’ You can find more information on the website www.disableinequality.ie.
2. If you are happy to share your story then you may be interested in becoming a Disability Champion. As a Disability champion, you will be a media contact for DFI and be willing to share your story in newspapers, radio and at other events. For more information about this please contact Jason at jasonocallaghan@disability-federation.ie.
3. A campaigning network is being established and needs people with disabilities and their families to join. This network will join together people from all over Ireland interested in getting active on disability issues. As part of this network you will join with other disability advocates and campaign within your own constituency. DFI will be there to support network members throughout the election campaign. To get involved contact Laura at lauraenglish@disability-federation.ie.
4. DFI are launching the ‘Disable Inequality’ campaign in early January and want as many people as possible to attend. The more people that attend the launch, the louder the voice of people with disabilities leading into the election. If you would like to attend please contact Jacqueline at jacquelinegrogan@disability-federation.ie.
5. We need to promote the Disable Inequality message as wide as we can. You can do this by liking and sharing the disableinequality.ie website. Please share on Facebook, Twitter and too as many people as you can.
By working together and building the voice of people with disabilities in Ireland we have a real chance to bring about change in 2016. Together we can #disableinequality!
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