AN IRISH dad and carer hoping to win a Dail seat in the upcoming election has raged: "Ireland disables people with disabilities." Bernard Mulvany, whose daughter Sophia, 14, has spina bifida, has blasted the "inequality of having a disability in Ireland". The People Before Profit Dublin Bay North candidate is aiming to win a seat in Dail Eireann in the upcoming election.
And the dad has vowed to be an advocate for those with disabilities who face difficulties in their daily lives as a result of Government inaction. According to figures from the Disability Federation of Ireland, some 1,109,557 people - 22 per cent of the population - reported having a long-lasting condition or disability. Among people unable to work due to a long-standing health problem two in five are at risk of poverty.
And one in five live in consistent poverty, while one in two live in deprivation. And a quarter of disabled people report that their health status is ‘Bad or Very Bad’ compared to the State average of four per cent. People Before Profit want to ensure those with disabilities have equal access to healthcare, education, and career opportunities.
Discusses the inequalities his family has faced, Bernard told the Irish Sun: “She's never been able to walk. She was only 13 months when she got her first wheelchair.” “For myself personally, I became very aware as Sophia was getting older of the inequality of having a disability in Ireland.
“The hardest thing for us in the beginning was we .