DFI General Election Campaign 2024

With a general election confirmed before the end of the year, we're prepared to encourage candidates to #PrioritiseDisability in this election cycle. For too long, disabled people have been pushed into poverty, left without access to essential services and experienced barriers to their full participation in their communities. Better lives for disabled people delivers better communities, inclusive public spaces and social cohesion.

That's why we want to take this opportunity to insist that candidates take our concerns seriously. DFI's manifesto aims to speak to the structural issues faced by people with disabilities in Ireland with an advocacy, policy and communications campaign calling on candidates to #PrioritiseDisability across every community in Ireland.

View or download our summary manifesto.

View or download our County Profiles to see the latest disability statistics in your local area.

DFI will be facilitating this with a number of actions over the coming weeks and month.

Online hustings

We’ll be hosting an online pre-election lobby day for our members on 18 November from 11am to 1pm. This will be an opportunity for members to hear from the disability spokespersons from each of the political parties and for our members to put their questions to them. Please note this is members only event. If you are a member and would like to register click here.

Election Training Workshop

To support members who want to hold their own hustings we are holding an Election Training Event for DFI members on 6 November at DFI's offices in Dublin. For more and to book click here.

Disability Pledge

We’re encouraging candidates to sign our Disability Pledge. The pledge is a promise to commit to disability inclusion in policy, legislation and community. We’re encouraging voters to get their local candidates to take the pledge. Download our Disability Pledge postcards here. Ask your local candidate to scan the code and take the pledge at your door.

Advocacy and Communications Campaign

We’ve developed a media and communications toolkit that will be sent to all of our members, so we have a unified voice coming into the election. We have also developed a series of disability factsheets that show disability statistics that cover the whole of Ireland as well as stats for each individual local authority.

Members - send us your manifesto

Members, dont' forget to send us your manifetos. We're happy to host them on the homepage of our website. Send your manifestos to be published to tommeagher@disability-federation.ie

Follow our website and socials to keep up to date our general election campaign and please share, like and comment on our content to push to #PrioritiseDisability in the next Programme for Government. View or download our full manifesto here.