Centre for Disability Law & Policy

Aim

The aim of the Centre for Disability Law & Policy (CDLP) is to collaborate actively with the Centre for Child and Family Support and the Centre for Social Gerontology in order to advance a coherent lifecycle approaches to policy development in the new Institute for Lifecourse and Society.

How we fit with ILAS?

The Centre for Disability Law and Policy (CDLP) undertakes research, education and community engagement with disabled people in Ireland and globally across the lifecourse, including disabled children and young people, disabled adults and disabled older people. Our work focuses on centering the voices of disabled people as the key decision-makers in their own lives, and as leaders in developing legal, social and political change. We are interested in inclusive and collaborative research together with disabled people and their representative organisations on issues including legal capacity, independent living, access to justice, advocacy, and political participation. Our work aims to be intersectional in its approach and acknowledges that disabled people often hold other marginalised identities. Through our education and engagement programmes we aim to educate and equip the next generation of disability scholars and advocates with the evidence base and strategies needed to generate sustainable structural change.

Director

Prof. Eilionóir Flynn | Centre for Disability Law & Policy

Eilionóir Flynn is an established Professor at the School of Law and Director of the Centre for Disability Law and Policy (CDLP) at the University of Galway. Her research focuses on disability rights, legal capacity, access to justice, and the intersection of disability, gender, and ageing. She has led significant projects like Re(al) Productive Justice and the DARE (Disability Advocacy Research in Europe) network, which funded 15 researchers across seven European countries. Eilionóir has collaborated with civil society organizations globally and influenced policy in Ireland. A graduate of University College Cork, she has published extensively, including her book "From Rhetoric to Action" and an upcoming monograph on gender and disability.