Chief Executive Welcome

In Enable Ireland we are motivated by Independence, Choice and Inclusion. Most people in Ireland today take these for granted but try to imagine your life without them. If you can do that you are putting yourself in the shoes of many of Enable Ireland’s service users and their families. Enabling greater independence, more choices and real inclusion in local communities will make a huge difference in the lives of people with disabilities.

 

Great strides have been made over the last 30 years since I began working in the disability sector. Today’s generation of people with disabilities rightly have much higher expectations of their own potential and what they want from life and they demand much more from their service providers, their state and their society. We must work together to narrow the gap between these growing expectations and the ability of society and organisations like Enable Ireland to fulfil them.

 

Every year Enable Ireland works directly with thousands of children and adults with disabilities in communities across Ireland. Our partnerships with the state, HSE, The Department of Education & Science, FAS and other voluntary bodies are fundamental to developing our services and supporting each individual and their families through each stage of their lives.

 

All of us have a responsibility to adapt our world for the person with a disability rather then demand that that person adapt to us. Children grasp real inclusion quickly, they can accept their playmates as equals and even see disabilities in a positive light.  In one of our integrated playgroups a child commented to their mother that they wanted a wheel chair like their playmate so that they too could get around quicker! 

 

Everyone has a role in helping to fulfil this mission – from Enable Ireland staff members, to volunteers, donors, teachers, employers and society at large.  We need to challenge ourselves and ask, ‘Am I doing enough to support independence, choice and inclusion for people with disabilities?’