merrion street

The Minister of State with Special Responsibility for Disabilities, Finian McGrath TD, is pleased to recognise Wednesday 21st March as World Down Syndrome Day.

World Down Syndrome Day is a global awareness day which has been celebrated all over the world since 2006.
Minister Mc Grath welcomed World Down Syndrome Day, which aims to create a single global voice for advocating for the rights, inclusion and well being of people with Down Syndrome as a positive development. He said

“Today there are celebrations in over 100 countries all over the world with an annual conference in the UN in both New York and Geneva in conjunction with the Human Rights Council. I am so proud and happy to see that two people with Down Syndrome from Ireland spoke at the event in Geneva about their lives of being involved in their community”.

The Minister will this evening launch a photographic exhibition organised by Down Syndrome Ireland at the Powerscourt Town Centre.

“The theme of the exhibition encapsulates so much of my thinking regarding people with a disability in society” the Minister said, “and that is ‘What I Bring to my Community’. I want today and indeed everyday to be a day when people with Down Syndrome can be loud and proud of how they enrich us their families, the community in which they live and society generally. I hope today will raise awareness of Down Syndrome among the general public of what it means to have Down Syndrome, and how people with Down Syndrome play a vital role in our lives and communities”.