‘Very disappointed’ by leaders poor show
A MOTHER and carer to her son who voted Yes/Yes in the referendums, reflects on the aftermath of a week where she felt like a punching bag for abuse by people who can’t possibly understand her personal circumstances, and feels “very disappointed” by political leaders who ran a poor and rushed campaign.
Sinead Tighe, a fulltime carer for her son Daniel, said people were surprised by her advocating for a Yes/Yes which led to online barbs that she was “uneducated” and “ableist.”
“How could I think that when I have a child and a sister with needs, and I work in the community for inclusion?” said Sinead, who like many parents of kids with special needs, has had to fight tooth and nail for any support services they can receive.
As she stated in a piece for The Echo two weeks ago, Sinead interpretated the wording in the care amendment in relation to her current situation, the complexities of caring for her son, and policy changes that could improve the lives of carers and their families.
“I feel the No side debated well but certain things were untrue – on the No side they rolled in that Yes were not looking after disability rights.
“It wasn’t about one thing, it was about changing mother to care. It was a chance to get recognition for carers in the home. There are many fathers who are carers, many young people are carers for their parents and family, this was not portrayed to the public.
“The opposition didn’t talk to people who had good experiences and ran with one huge negative about carers. That wasn’t transparent,” said Sinead
The Yes side were not helped by government’s performance on the campaign trail, including Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s “I don’t actually think that’s the State’s responsibility” appearance on the Six O’Clock Show.
“We were lost when he said that,” said Sinead.
“I could see early in the week that care was gone. I was a bit more hopeful for family, but after the leak the day before the vote, people had no trust.
“I think there was a bit of an anti-establishment vote as well, which tells you how people are feeling about this government. They would have been better taking their time to debate about carers and the parameters. I have to question did they really want it?”
Despite the result, Sinead finds positives in progress that has been made for carers including the recent announcement of a new scheme to improve access to the contributory State pension for long-term carers.
“That is a good step forward. We will keep the momentum on the debate about carers. They have to look at care and services. It has been an issue for government for 20 years and it will be an issue for future governments. It is not going away.
“I do have a right to my voice. That’s Daniel’s voice, who is severely non-verbal. Unless I get my rights, Daniel’s rights are not fulfilled. I’ll still keep doing what I’m doing as much as I can for Daniel, my family and in the community for diversity and inclusion.”
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