Ballina to host major discussion on disability issues
Avril Greham is organising the event.
Expanding Horizons, a powerful, no-fluff conversation about disability and inclusion, returns for a second year to Ballina on Thursday, July 24.
The event is presented by Avril Greham, of Beyond Barriers, with special guests Dr James Casey, Ann Marie Flanagan and Geraldine Lavelle.
Taking to the stage with Avril in a podcast-style discussion will be lecturer, geopolitical consultant and communications advisor Dr James Casey, equality campaigner and 2024 Seanad candidate Ann Marie Flanagan and author, athlete and disability rights advocate Geraldine Lavelle. Each panellist will bring their own perspective, experience, and courage to what promises to be another moving and meaningful evening that will challenge the audience to examine their own attitudes and actions.
The discussion will centre on articles included in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), which was ratified in Ireland in 2018, but has yet to be fully implemented. The purpose of the UN Convention is to promote, protect, and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by all persons with disabilities, and to promote respect for their inherent dignity.
Expanding Horizons will bring together disabled voices, allies, and the wider community, and will centre lived experience, tackling head-on the issues that are often ignored in mainstream conversations. What are the hidden financial costs of disability? How does public policy disadvantage disabled people? What fears do disabled people live with? What are the real barriers to employment? Which measures must urgently be introduced to ensure disabled people can fully fulfil their own potential in their own communities?
Event organiser and CEO of Beyond Barriers, Avril Greham, stated: “Disability isn’t someone else’s problem. It could literally be you tomorrow - one accident or illness, and you’re disabled. It happens every day. We have a moral and legal obligation to future-proof society now to build a world that works for everyone. The purpose of Expanding Horizons is to insist that disabled voices are heard and lived experiences are centred when it comes to planning, decision-making and implementation, at all levels.”
Avril is also the chairperson of Mayo Disabled Persons Organisation (DPO). DPOs have a strong legal mandate globally, rooted in the UNCRPD, which includes representing disabled people in matters that affect them, advocating for their rights, and ensuring their full participation in society on an equal basis with others, something Greham says is not currently happening in Ireland.
“When the Optional Protocol to the UNCRPD was ratified in 2024, the then Minister of State for Disabilities, Anne Rabbitte stated that people with disabilities must be enabled to participate equally and fully in our society and must have their rights as set out under the Convention respected. Yet, incredibly, we still in 2025 have situations where school places cannot be found for disabled children, where disabled people cannot secure personal assistance due to inappropriate, unfit for purpose funding structures, and where 1,300 disabled people under the age of 65 are living in nursing homes instead of their own homes due to deficiencies in housing, funding and personal assistance.
“Expanding Horizons will offer an opportunity to bring together disabled people, our allies and our public representatives for a constructive, inclusive conversation, offering practical ways to address these issues and subsequently meet our legal obligations under the UNCRPD.”
The event takes place in the Great National Hotel, Ballina, at 7pm on July 24. Tickets, priced at €25, are now available at www.avrilgreham.ie or at Eventbrite.
