On Thursday, 26 September, the ERC DANCING team were delighted to welcome Professor Cora True-Frost from Syracuse University College of Law, USA, for a dedicated workshop at Maynooth University. The workshop entitled ‘Accommodating Equality in the Skies: The Difference Disability Makes’ invited attendees to dive into the topic of (in)accessible air travel and transport by persons with disabilities, and in particular persons with reduced mobility.
The workshop was opened by Assisting Living and Learning (ALL) Institute Co-Director Professor Deirdre Desmond, who emphasised the ALL Institute’s trans- and interdisciplinary research culture that seeks to translate academic research into positive policy change and create lasting societal impact. In her capacity as Principal Investigator of the ERC DANCING project and convenor of the workshop, Professor Delia Ferri introduced the project and highlighted the relevance of accessibility of transportation in the exercise of the right to participate in cultural life. Professor Cora True-Frost gave her inspired keynote, skilfully drawing on and blending lived experiences of travelling with her family and son who uses a wheelchair, with legal state-of-play of air-travel norms in the United States of America and the European Union. Dr. Shivaun Quinlivan (University of Galway) acted as discussant and provided insightful comments on the topic. She emphasised the need to change attitudes of policy- and lawmakers and the power of stories, i.e. the lived experience of persons with disabilities.
Professor Delia Ferri is Professor of Law at the School of Law and Criminology at Maynooth University and Co-Director of the Assisting Living and Learning (ALL) Institute at Maynooth University.
