On the occasion of the Annual Conference of the Irish Association of Law Teachers, researchers of the European Research Council (ERC) funded project ‘Protecting the Right to Culture of Persons with Disabilities and Enhancing Cultural Diversity through European Union Law: Exploring New Paths – DANCING’ presented their recent and on-going research of the project.
The conference was hosted by Maynooth University on 15-16 November 2024, with an array of parallel panel sessions, and a plenary session on ‘Technology and Humanity: Enabling, Restricting or Prohibiting’ chaired by Dr. Adam Buick (Ulster University) and speakers Prof. Deirdre Ahern (Trinity College Dublin and member of Ireland’s AI Advisory Council), Dr. Lucia Otoyo (London South Bank University) and Mr. Andy Unger (London South Bank University).
The ERC DANCING team presented in a panel chaired by Professor Delia Ferri entitled ‘The Role of the EU in Advancing Disability Rights: Internal and External Dimensions’. On the basis of a chapter prepared for the forthcoming co-edited volume by Prof. Ferri and Eva Krolla entitled ‘Actors and Roles in EU Disability Law’ (Hart Publishing) developed under the ERC DANCING project, Eva presented on ‘The European Commission as Driving Force in Shaping EU Disability Law’. Iryna Tekuchova then presented parts of her on-going PhD research and specifically discussed ‘The Global Reach of EU Disability Law: The EU as an Actor in Advancing Disability Rights in Eastern Partnership Countries’. Finally, Léa Urzel Francil presented on ‘Addressing the Challenges Faced by Persons with Disabilities in the Cultural and Creative Sectors: The EU as a Key Actor?’ based on her findings of socio-legal research conducted under Work Package 1 of the ERC DANCING project and of a prepared article on the subject.
Questions by the audience and discussion of points raised in the respective presentations as well as of the on-going ERC DANCING research benefitted the team members and overall project in advancing their research and disseminating their work to a broader audience of legal scholars.
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 and is the Principal Investigator of the ERC DANCING project.
