Welcome to Ireland
EuroCurrency in Ireland
Today’s Weather
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Basic Country Profile
Location: Western Europe, part of the British isles
Population: 5 million
Capital: Dublin
Major languages: English, Irish
Major religion: Christianity
Currency: Euro
Terrain: Mostly flat
Climate: Temperate, maritime
Dial code: +353
Time zone: GMT+1
Emergency numbers:
112 or 999 – fire, ambulance and police services in Ireland and Northern Ireland are all contactable on these two numbers.
Disability Legislations and Policies
Ireland ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in March 2018, becoming the last of the 27 European Union states to do so. There were a total of 643,131 people who stated they had a disability in April 2016, accounting for 13.5 per cent of the population. This represented an increase of 47,796 persons (8%) on the 2011 figure of 595,335. In 2016, 311,580 (48.4%) persons with a disability were male while 331,551 (51.6%) were female.
www.cso.ie/en
In recent years a raft of new laws – namely the Assisted Decision-Making Capacity Act 2015 and the Disability (Miscellaneous Provisions) bill 2016, have ensured a closer legal alignment with the Convention.
Another stand-alone Bill on the deprivation of liberty of older people and persons with disabilities within the health services also needs to be drafted. www.dredf.org
Travel Related Information
Wheelchair-accessible taxis in the Republic of Ireland have a wheelchair icon on the roof of the vehicle, and have been specifically modified to have specialist equipment including ramps, wheelchair anchorages and suitable seat belts.
The National Transport Authority maintains a register of all wheelchair-accessible taxis and hackneys. If you have difficulty obtaining an accessible service, the Authority may be able to provide you with contact details for an operator in your locality. Call its information line on +353 761 064000
Manual Wheelchair hire is available from the Irish Wheelchair Association’s rental division Wheelchair Solutions. Telephone number: +353 1 8186 453
For accessible transport go to: www.transportforireland.ie