Eurolink News

Dublin woman head-hunted for EU disability committee (4th March, 2010)

March 4, 2010 at 4:34 pm Leave a comment

A young Dublin woman has been chosen to represent Ireland on an key international committee acting on behalf of people with disabilities. Aimée Richardson (aged 28) was selected last week as the only Irishwoman to serve on the European Disability Forum’s Youth Committee.
Speaking from her home in Killiney, Richardson said she was delighted to accept the voluntary position. ‘I’ll be going to meetings in Brussels and working with other young people from all over Europe; I’m very excited and a little nervous too because I haven’t met anyone else on the committee yet, but I suppose that’s part of the excitement!’ she added.
The prestigious appointment is the latest in a long list of achievements for Richardson, who was chosen to be an Irish ambassador at the 2009 Down Syndrome World Congress in Dublin’s DCU. An accomplished musician on harp, flute, whistle and bodhrán, Aimée performed at the congress and completed a training course on advocacy, diversity and civil rights. She’s also been one of the trailblazers of integrated schooling for people with a disability, having completed her Leaving Cert Applied at Cabinteely Community School and achieved a FETAC Level 5 qualification in Childcare and Arts and Crafts at the BIFE College, Bray.
Local MEP Proinsias de Rossa, a member of the European Parliament’s Disability Inter-Group, was among the first to offer his congratulations. ‘I look forward to meeting Aimée Richardson in Brussels – I’m sure that in the course of her work and mine our paths may cross, especially as we work towards completing the EU’s Anti-Discrimination Directive,’ he said.

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