Disability

A man with a learning disability has settled a case alleging disability harassment against retailer B&M for £5,000 without admission of liability with support from the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland (ECNI). During his 18 months at B&M in a stock-filling role, Harvey Spence sa

Government ministers should make an annual Dáil statement on how Ireland is meeting its human rights obligations for disabled people, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has said. Chief commissioner Sinéad Gibney told the Oireachtas disability matters committee that she is i

Staff at A&L Goodbody in Belfast are marking Deaf Awareness Week with the latest in a six-week course of sign language classes.

A cinema chain has settled a disability discrimination claim brought by a woman who uses a wheelchair with support from the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland. Leah Batchelor is a user of the CEA card scheme, which allows people who need additional support in public to receive an additional co

Children with disabilities are being excluded from consultations on laws, policies and programmes affecting them, a new report has found. Researchers at NUI Galway School of Law and the Institute for Lifecourse and Society have found "several instances whereby children with disabilities have not had

A 200-year-old law preventing wards of court from marrying has been repealed following a legal challenge. The Marriage of Lunatics Act 1811 was repealed on Monday through the commencement of section 7(1) of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015.

A former midwifery student at Queen's University Belfast has settled a disability discrimination case against the university for £20,000. Sarah Walker, who lives with cystic fibrosis, brought the case with support from the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland (ECNI).

The government has published a consultation draft of Ireland's first state report under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which was ratified by the State in 2018. The report describes how each article of the Convention is being implemented in Ireland and notes significant

Geraldine McGahey, chief commission of the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland, notes the continued importance of the landmark Disability Discrimination Act 1995. Today marks International Day of Persons with Disabilities – a day dedicated to promote full and equal participation of people

A man with an intellectual disability has gone to the High Court to challenge laws preventing him from marrying. The man, known only as V, was prevented from marrying his fiancée last year following an application to the High Court to have him made a ward of court.

The Court of Appeal has overturned the ruling of then-president of the High Court, Mr Justice Peter Kelly, refusing to adjourn an inquiry into whether a man with a moderate learning disability who wanted to marry should be made a ward of court. Background

The High Court has allowed the appeal of Robert Cunningham, a prison officer employed by the Irish Prison Service (IPS). In the course of his duties he suffered two assaults by prisoners, which resulted in him suffering a serious back injury, which has required three operations.

Disabled prison officers have a right to reasonable workplace accommodations to facilitate their work, judges have ruled. The High Court ruled this morning that the Labour Court was wrong in law to find that the Irish Prison Service (IPS) had a blanket exemption in relation to providing reasonable a

Disabled people working in the legal profession face outmoded practices that hamper their efforts to build successful careers, according to a new study by researchers at Cardiff University. Many of the participants – drawn from across the legal profession – told researchers they hide the

The Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT) will tomorrow launch a new research report examining the experiences of prisoners with disabilities, and the difficulties they face navigating prison services. The report, entitled Making Rights Real for People with Disabilities in Prison, presents the findings of