On 27 March, Professor Delia Ferri (Principal Investigator) and Doctor Ann Leahy (Post-doctoral researcher) presented interim findings 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’ at the Socio-Legal Studies Association (SLSA) Annual Conference in Portsmouth, UK.
The panel contribution focused on results in work package 1 of the DANCING project which aims to identify barriers and facilitators to cultural participation by persons with disabilities in the European Union (EU). This work package utilises qualitative and arts-based research methods including semi-structured interviews with stakeholders from the 27 Member States of the EU and the UK.
Within the research stream ‘Disability, Law and Social Justice in Times of Uncertainty’, Prof. Ferri and Dr. Leahy thus presented the identified barriers and facilitators to cultural participation based on interviews with 64 organisations and two focus groups as well as relevant document analysis. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) as global norm-setting instrument enshrines the right to culture for persons with disabilities in its Article 30. Other international treaties similarly inform both EU and national legislation regarding accessibility and active involvement in cultural life for persons with disabilities.
Other faculty and researchers of the School of Law and Criminology of Maynooth University, such as Prof. Aisling McMahon, Dr. Opeyemi Kolawole and Dr. Philip Finn, also presented on their current research in various panels and streams at the SLSA.
Professor Delia Ferri is Professor of Law at the School of Law and Criminology of Maynooth University and Co-Director of the Assisting Living and Learning (ALL) Institute.
