According to the Irish Down Syndrome Association “Down Syndrome is a common congenital chromosomal anomaly. It is found worldwide. Down Syndrome occurs when there is one extra copy of chromosome 21 in the body.” The association goes on to say “ there are approximately 7,000 Irish people with Down Syndrome, with every one in 444 births being one diagnosed with the condition”. People with Down Syndrome face many stereotypes, so much so less that 6% of the 7,000 people are in full time employment. However, these are just some of the people that are breaking down those stereotypes and the companies that help them:
From an early age Thomas was determined that he could get a job and contribute to his household. His parents knew that with having Down Syndrome and a number of other positions the reality of Thomas getting and keeping a job would be extremely difficult. The family then thought of the idea of Thomas creating his own business.
Thomas had always been obsessed with socks, so his dad Finbar thought of the idea of Thomas creating his own socks company. Thus Thomp2 was created. Featuring a range of funky and colourful socks their tagline is “Love Through Socks”. Their socks support Downs Syndrome Ireland and Autism awareness and they pledged to give 5% of any profits to the St. John of Gods. In 2021, they also launched ‘’Mental Health Socks’ available. For every pair of ‘It’s Okay Not To Be Okay’ socks purchased, €2 will be donated to Pieta House.
Amanda Butler – Advocate
To celebrate their 50th anniversary Down Syndrome Ireland unveiled a 60 foot piece of artwork entitled ‘Don’t Talk Down to Me’. The mural was created by artist and activist Joe Caslin. Speaking at the launch, Joe said: “The artwork is Amanda looking down on the world and she is asking you to consider her place within a community, a workplace, and the healthcare setting”, while Amanda said “I am so excited to be part of Down Syndrome Ireland’s anniversary. I am grateful I have been given the chance to shine,”
“Why can’t a person with Down Syndrome become a CEO?” That’s the question that Fionn and his dad Jonthan asked when they were considering what career Fionn would move into. Fionn Crombie Angus is a social entrepreneur, nature lover, a film fan, and a fiddler with Down Syndrome. He and his dad Jonthan run a social enterprise, Fionnathan Production, working in media, education and the arts. Having interviewed over 700 people, been a guest lecturer at more than 30 colleges and having their art pieces exhibited in galleries throughout Ireland, the UK and New York, they show that having Down Syndrome isn’t a tragedy. In fact, it can be amazing.
One of Ireland’s most successful Special Olympians, Pat Dorgan has been to several games and collected multiple gold medals in table tennis. According to myspecialneeds.ie “Pat Dorgan has more than lived up to the expectations of his family. The 46-year-old from Cork won two medals for Ireland in table tennis at the 2007 Special Olympics World Games in China and subsequently featured in a national poster campaign for the sport. His brother, the poet Theo Dorgan, composed a poem called My Brother for a pre-Games gala.
His sister Angela calls Pat “the glue that holds the family together”. Pat and those high-achieving adults like him are changing the perception of what a person with Down Syndrome can do. It’s a welcome progression, says Angela, from the condescension of old.
Now in his forties Michael has been disproving some of the myths around Down Syndrome for decades. Micheal is an author, poet, playwright, community organiser and educator. Having completed three years on the Inclusive Learning Initiative (ILI) course at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth, graduating with a Certificate in Personal Learning, Media Studies.
Michael was also a member of the inaugural Irish National Advisory Council on Down Syndrome. In 2012, Michael published a book entitled Straight Up, No Sugar. Following this he had his second book A Song For You” published in 2019. Having interned for The Vatican Radio in 2014, Michael was on the organising committee for The Meeting of Families during The Pope’s visit to Ireland in 2018.
Kate became the first model with Down’s Syndrome to be named Teen Ultimate Beauty Of The World in July 2018. More recently Kate has become a brand ambassador for Kate then went on to star in Benefit Cosmetics ‘Wing Wing’ campaign as ‘Catwalk Kate’ In 2018 Kate (who has more than 32,000 Instagram followers) appeared on ITV This Morning program, where she model on a catwalk for the first time on TV and then more recently Kate appeared on The Ray Darcy Show, where she saying that one of her 10 goals for 2019 is to raise awareness of people with disabilities through the #differentisbeautiful campaign and meet her hero Cliona Hagan and see Dancing With The Stars. Ray then invited Cliona on to the show who presented Kate with 3 tickets to see her perform in the show the next day. Also in 2019 The Queen of England awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) to Kate for “services to the community in Cookstown”
Ireland’s biggest sports fan, Jennifer first came to national attention in a Gealic Hurling game between Kllkenny and Waterford in 2017, where she comforted a Waterford player after the final whistle while wearing a Killkenny jersey. The sports mad 20 year-old is most associated with being Ireland’s biggest rugby fan. Having met the players frequently at Carton House while they were training. In 2018, Jennifer travelled to Twickenham to watch England V Ireland in the Grand Slam decider. After the victory Peter O’Mahony asked Jennifer to take care of his medal for him, when she went to give it back Peter told her she could keep it.
In 2019, Vodafone chose Jennifer as the overall winner of a competition to present a unique match ball to the team before they departed for The Rugby World Cup. The Kildare native has possibly the most impressive collections of sports jerseys in Ireland and has also had the privilege of meeting the likes of Prince William, Hugh Jackman and Rory McLlroy in their visits to Dublin. Jennifer is also a basketball player for The Special Olympics Ireland.
Jennifer has been busy over the last year, she’s been to Paris to support her beloved Irish rugby team in the world cup, she’s also been busy supporting Leinster rugby as they set their sights on some silverware this year. Both teams were very good to her last year. Irish rugby invited her to their captain’s run (to celebrate world down syndrome day) before their grandslam win and Leinster got her to hand over the shield to them at their captain’s run of Heineken cup final.
James Martin – Actor
The Belfast actor who starred in the Oscar and BAFTA winning film ‘An Irish Goodbye# became the first person with Down Syndrome to be invited to the Oscars, before the team won The Best Live Action Short’ Oscar for the film according to belfastlive.ie “is set against the backdrop of a working farm in rural Northern Ireland and follows the reunion of estranged brothers Turlough (Seamus O’Hara) and Lorcan after the untimely death of their mother.”
James told BBC.com “It’s not often you get your own part on a show if you have Down’s syndrome. But never judge a book by its cover”. During their speech the director filmmaker Ross White and his creative partner Tom Berkeley used the time to get the star-studded crowd to sing happy birthday to the 31 year old. James’s father said “When James was 18 months old there was a doctor who said to me: ‘You’re going to have to accept that it’s very likely James will never speak, if you’re watching, he speaks. In fact he never shuts up.”
Padraig O’Callaghan (13) is a first year student at Scoil Pol, Kilfinane, Co. Limerick. Padraig has been campaigning for “disability not inability” for a number of years, in a powerful call to action that emphasises the capabilities and potential of individuals with disabilities. Padraig challenges prevailing stereotypes and misconceptions by highlighting the diverse talents, skills, and contributions of people with disabilities to society. By shifting the focus from perceived limitations to inherent abilities, this campaign promotes a culture of inclusivity, dignity, and respect for all.
Ultimately, advocating for “disability not inability” is not just about promoting social justice; it is about recognising and celebrating the richness of human diversity and ensuring that every individual has the opportunity to thrive, regardless of their abilities.
Padraig has received numerous plaudits over the years for his campaigns through his online podcast and social media channels which can be found at paudcast.ie. He has appeared on the Late Late Show, and has addressed hundreds of people at various speaking engagements in spreading his message. Padraig has been invited to meet with President Higgins at Aras an Uachtarain, and also the Taoiseach and Tanaiste at Government Buildings. Padraig has also won a LIFT Award for positive attitude and his proudest moment was when he was bestowed with the title of Limerickperson of the Year in 2022.
To see more of Pádraig, check out www.Paudcast.ie.’
The voice of Punky, Punky is an Irish cartoon shown on RTE Jr from Monster Animation studio, which in a first for any cartoon the lead character has Down Syndrome. But this was not an overnight success for Aimee. Having studied acting at Roslyn College before going on to study it further in Bray College of Further Education, Aimee has also starred in films such as The Drummer and The Keeper or voiceover work in many different ads and TV work.
In an interview with RSVP magazine in 2018 she said “I love music. I play harp, tin whistle, flute, badhrán, and more recently I picked up the ukulele. We did Electric Picnic in 2017 and 2016 and that went down really well.” before finishing the interview by saying “I think people should look at what abilities you do have and focus on those. Be open to taking opportunities to do things like acting and see what you can do with it.” Aimee is now also working in Facebook Ireland
Molly Ryan – Founder of Molly’s Cards
Two of Molly’s favourite things were being creative and caring for her dog – a Cairn Terrier called Toto. So she decided to combine the two and started to create a cards for people’s dogs. What started off as a hobbie is now a now a small but growing business and with help from her sister Catriona, the Tipperary Local Enterprise Office and their graphic design agency, Cards by Molly’s is now live, with their purpose being “celebrating ability and a love of dogs”. As the say on their website ” Molly is involved in all aspects of the business, she loves folding, packing and sorting the cards, writing notes to customers, going to the post office and checking her social media reports”
Molly’s favourite affirmation is “Wake up every morning and tell yourself I can do this” and you can see how she does this, through her:
– Instagram @mollymadra21
– Website: cardsbymollymadra21.ie
– Or the company was featured in the Irish press, through publications such as RSVP Magazine or Irish Country Living Magazine
Mark is an actor who co-created a theatre show based on his life, called Making a Mark. It opens at the Dublin Fringe Festival in September 2019. Making a Mark showcased both Mark’s struggles and successes, and was created with artistic director of Run of the Mill Theatre Aisling Byrne and writer Shaun Dunne. Mark told TheJournal.ie that he is greatly looking forward to people hearing about his struggles so he can “put his story out there”.
According to The Irish Times Mark “does indeed have some incredible stories to tell. He won a silver medal at the World Special Olympics in 1999, graduated “on all 14 points” from Maynooth University’s anthropology department, and was Ireland’s LipSyncs Battle champion in 2017. He also holds down two part-time jobs while acting in his spare time.
Speaking to Maura and Daithi on RTE 1 Television the presenters introduced Katie as having one simple mantra “I’m a person not a syndrome”. Katie and Leanne were in the same class together in secondary school and Katie told of how she wasn’t treated any differently because of her condition. Katie described how she has four jobs, one in Tullamore Electrical TEF (Tullamore Electrical Factors) as an office assistant, Mucklagh Primary School as an Assistant Secretary, Rahan Primary School with my sister as a classroom assistant and Aura Leisure Centre in Tullamore as a Leisure Attendant and works at her local club GAA Cul Camps.
Katie has represented Ireland at the World Down Syndrome Games competing in swimming in South Africa 2004, Taiwan in 2010, Portugal, Italy, America and England. Through The National Down Syndrome Advisory Committee Katie travelled to America to give presentations on what life is like with Down Syndrome and their rights to education, employment and the right to vote. To celebrate World Down Syndrome Day, she presented Maura and Daithi their odd socks campaign, before advocating for increased job opportunities for people with Down Syndrome.
Mei Lin Yap is a graduate of Trinity and is currently a Senior HR Assistant at Cpl, Irelands leading Talent Solutions & Recruitment provider. Cpl is a partner of Trinity Centre for People with Intellectual Disabilities (TCPID). Mei lin was the first graduate of TCPID to have a permanent position with Cpl and there are now 3 permanent employees since Mei Lin joined. Mei Lin Yap is also Ambassador Liaison Officer with Trinity Centre for Aging with intellectual disabilities. Mei Lin was nominated earlier this year for a Dean of Research excellence award for ‘Engaging profoundly with our public’s. She is also a Volunteer with Frontline which is the Irish online Magazine and is a voice for people with intellectual disabilities.
Mei Lin was highly commended at the National Diversity & Inclusion awards in the category under “Employee of the year” for the work and advocacy she does for people with disabilities. Mei Lin sits on the DEI committee at Cpl and is responsible for the organisation of their annual Ability Day at Cpl which has been running since 2017. She wrote an article on the Do’s and Don’ts of hiring people with disabilities, has been a guest speaker for many organisations and at the Open doors Launch. Mei Lin has appeared in a documentary “Aging with Pride” for IDS TILDA.
Mei Lin also represented Ireland in Swimming with Irish Down Syndrome Sporting Org.CLG (IDSSO) for short.
Mei Lin is a digital skills tutor with Digi Academy. Digi Academy is an accessible digital skills platform empowering learners with intellectual disabilities to use technology to improve education and employment pathways. “Having a job makes me feel accepted and included and a fully-fledged adult who can contribute to society. As a person with an intellectual disability, I am aware that when we dream big, and others dream big for us then we can achieve our potential”.