OLYMPIC NEWS: The founder of the Special Olympics, Ms Eunice Kennedy Shriver, has supported calls for the Government to introduce a rights-based Disability Bill.
In an interview with The Irish Times, she praised the Government for its support of the Games but said it was vital to have legislation which would automatically give intellectually-disabled people access to vital services.
"The big thing for the Irish Government is that they show that these people are entitled to support, out of a sense of justice, which is something your country has fought for over hundreds of years. They ought to say that people with mental handicaps are as entitled to support as anybody else," Ms Kennedy Shriver said.
The campaign for a rights-based Disability Bill is supported by groups representing the disabled community, but the Government has signalled that it will not take this route. The Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, yesterday said that rights-based legislation could lead to large-scale litigation by people who are unable to access services. This money could be better spent on providing badly-needed services, he said.
Ms Kennedy Shriver, a sister of former US president John F. Kennedy, said the argument that lack of resources could limit what disabled people were entitled to was "not the real issue", and that rights-based legislation in the US covered a range of entitlements such as equal access to education, healthcare and employment.
"Why should we suddenly say that we want to support all the kids who, for example, can play soccer and then suddenly say we don't have any money left for children with intellectual problems.
"That's not fair. I hope they [The Irish Government] pass a Bill which says - and we have the same kind of Bill in the States - that they are entitled to education and jobs, just like the rest of the population."
While, she said, much was needed to be done around the world to break down the barriers of prejudice against people with learning difficulties, she noted that the Government's support for the Games was remarkable.
"They have put on the Games, they've made them the best in the world, they have done everything right. So at the moment I have no complaints. I'm only full of praise, admiration and compliments for them.
"The opening ceremony stood out, in terms of music, colour, dancing and celebrities. You had Mandela coming all the way from South Africa to greet the athletes and Muhammad Ali, who's our great hero in America . . . what more could you ask for?"
Ms Kennedy Shriver said she was hopeful that the response of Irish people to the Special Olympics would help change attitudes towards people with intellectual disabilities.
While there was still widespread prejudice against people with learning difficulties, she said exposure to the achievements of athletes with special needs would be an eye-opening experience for many.
"I've just been to a basketball game and even I'm astonished at just how well they play and how they do all the things that everybody else says is so important. They're excelling constantly at all the activities they do.
"We hope people will be so impressed with the opening ceremony and the other events, just as I've been, that it will change their attitudes. I'm hopeful it will. If they don't after this event, God knows when they'll do it."
She said discrimination against people with intellectual disabilities was "astonishing" and that people must be educated about the abilities of people with special needs.
"I just spoke to some students who are eight and nine years of age. I said to them: 'You must invite students with special needs to your school for lunch once a month. Go to the principal and ask for the telephone number of a special class, and call them up.'
"And that's one thing you can do. There are so many different ways you can do something."
She also said the media had a central role to play, but it was often difficult to attract the attention of newspapers, radio and television.
"Back in America, we need the press to cover the things we saw today. In gymnastics, for example the athletes are unbelievable. But the press is very slow about covering this and often thinks it's more important to cover the universities, colleges and Lakers games."
