Finglas, Dublin – 20 May 2025
This morning, the Finglas Youth Resource Centre buzzed with energy, warmth, and purpose as over 30 participants from diverse disability organisations across Dublin City came together for an event that could mark the beginning of something transformative. Hosted by the Dublin City PPN Disability Thematic Group, the session aimed to explore the foundations of Disabled Persons Organisations (DPOs) and spark collective momentum toward establishing a city-wide DPO rooted in rights, solidarity, and self-representation.
The session was expertly facilitated by disability rights activist, educator, and theatre-maker Peter Kearns, whose presence and insights helped ground the conversation in lived experience and global frameworks. Drawing on his long-standing work in inclusive education and his leadership in the Independent Living Movement in Ireland, Peter guided attendees through an exploration of DPOs—not as service providers or support groups, but as powerful vehicles for systemic change led by disabled people for disabled people.
What is a DPO?
At the heart of today’s session was the recognition that DPOs differ fundamentally from many existing disability organisations. Understood in the context of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), DPOs are organisations led, directed, and governed by disabled people themselves. They centre lived experience, self-advocacy, and collective agency—amplifying the voices of disabled people to shape policy, challenge discrimination, and envision inclusive futures.
Peter emphasized the importance of shifting away from a charity or medical model of disability towards a rights-based model that foregrounds autonomy, dignity, and equal participation. “Disabled people are not to be spoken for or spoken about,” he said. “We speak for ourselves, organise for ourselves, and build the world we want to live in.”
A Diverse and Energised Crowd
The turnout was a testament to the interest and readiness in Dublin for this kind of organising. Participants represented a broad cross-section of the city’s disability community, including people with physical, sensory, intellectual, and psychosocial disabilities, as well as neurodivergent individuals. Some were long-time campaigners; others were newer to collective advocacy but eager to learn and connect.
Throughout the morning, the group explored key questions:
- What would a Dublin DPO look like?
- What would be its vision and mission?
- When could it hold an AGM, so that it worked with a mandate as soon as possible,
- And what structures and supports would be needed to make it sustainable?
The discussions were rich, respectful, and often passionate, as participants shared personal stories, organisational insights, and big-picture visions for what a DPO could achieve. Many described feelings of disempowerment or invisibility within current systems and services and expressed a strong desire to work toward something more representative and community-driven.
One participant noted, “This is the first time I’ve been in a room where everyone just gets it. We don’t have to explain our access needs or justify our experiences—we can get straight to the work of building something new.”
Moving from Dialogue to Action
Importantly, today’s gathering was not just about conversation—it was about momentum. By the end of the session, there was clear enthusiasm for continuing the process and a shared commitment to exploring how a Dublin City DPO could be established in the coming months.
Attendees discussed the practical next steps, including exchanging emails of everyone in the room, so that Peter could facilitate a zoom call over the summer, with the hope of another in-person event in the early autumn.
Larry O’Toole and the team at Dublin City Council (Finglas and Ballymun) were thanked warmly for their support by Mick Keegan, Sandra Dillon and Martin Hoey, who are in the Dublin City PPN Disability Thematic Group.
A Timely Launch During Inclusion and Integration Week
Today’s event also forms part of Dublin City’s Inclusion and Integration Week 2025, a city-wide celebration of diversity, participation, and belonging. The week will be officially launched by the Lord Mayor of Dublin this Thursday morning, and the themes of community, equality, and access that were central to the DPO discussion align perfectly with the wider programme.
As Dublin continues to evolve into a more inclusive and equitable city, the potential establishment of a DPO marks a powerful step forward—not just for disability rights, but for democracy, representation, and social justice.
What Comes Next?
The next few months will be crucial. Those present today are already planning follow-up meetings to shape a shared vision, agree on principles, and begin drafting a framework for what a Dublin City DPO might look like. There is recognition that this work must be done carefully and collaboratively, with time for consultation, reflection, and trust-building.
Final Reflections
This was not an awareness raising event. It was an event which raised expectations.
It showed that disabled people in Dublin City are ready to continue to organise and lead. It laid the groundwork for a future where decisions about disability are made not in isolation or assumption, but in dialogue, accountability, and shared power.