At The European Disability Forum (EDF) held in Dublin, Ireland in late February 2013, delegates from over 70 European Organizations that represent persons living with disabilities, called on the host country to follow suit with most of the other EU member states and ratify the CRPD.
Independent living, the right to legal capacity or equal recognition before the law, and the rights to family life etc. are just a few specific targets that were pointed out at the EDF as areas that need to be addressed in Ireland, one of the last three member states to ratify the CRPD.
John Dolan, CEO of Disability Federation of Ireland (DFI) said "Ireland is now lagging behind our European counterparts in the implementation of this key international human rights agreement which recognises that people with disabilities have the same rights as everyone else to freedom, respect, equality and dignity.”
While progress made by Ireland has been noted, the country’s implementation of a National Disability Strategy still has a long way to go.
