Material relating to case of [Liam] Maguire v AG [Attorney General], Ireland and Michael Neary. Case related to discrimination against disabled people being allowed to undertake jury duty. Maguire was initially requested to attend but when he asked about access and stated he was paraplegic, he was made exempt. Maguire did not wish to be exempt and some of correspondence relates to the procedure to add someone back on to a panel of potential jurors after they have been removed. Includes material from the Irish Wheelchair Association and the Liam Maguire Trust of which Mary Robinson (MR) becomes patron. Maguire was Chairman of the Irish Wheelchair Association when he took the AG to court.
Material in this file consists of correspondence, research material, circulars, reports, brochures and newspaper cuttings and includes photocopies of correspondence between County Registrar, Circuit Court Office and John Liam Maguire, relating to the initial jury summons and exemption 01-12/02/1979; correspondence between Maguire as Chairman of the Irish Wheelchair Association and MR, including pamphlet "A Fair Deal for the Handicapped" 02-16/11/1979, which includes a letter from John O'Leary, Minister for State to each City/County Manager, 30/11/1978; newsletter from SPOD [Resource Group for the Sexual Problems of the Disabled], 11/1979; research material including photocopies of extract from book on Public Law, relating to the Vocational Rehabilitation Act, 1973 and booklet ""Aids for the Physically Disabled" with cover letter to MR from James [T?]ully, Minister for Local Government, 27/02/1974; handwritten case notes; circular from Tom Gallagher, Chairperson, Disabled Persons Action Group, inviting MR to 2-day public education programme on wheelchair access in Dublin City 01/05/1980; letter from Maria Walsh, Secretary, Walkinstown Association for Handicapped, inviting MR to press conference in Mansion House, Dublin, to announce their upcoming Sports Day, 15/07/1980; booklet "A Room With A View" produced by the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Ireland for the Year of the Disabled 1981; circular from Dunraven, President, Irish Wheelchair Association to All Public Representatives, in relation to 1981 being Year of the Disabled 13/03/1981; correspondence between Joan O'Connell, Assistant Education and Training Officer, Irish Congress of Trade Unions to MR as Senator in relation to invite to conference on Rights of Disabled People, 24-26/03/1981; Irish Wheelchair Association policy documents on Education, Training and Employment, and Housing, 1981; correspondence between MR, Ercus Stewart [Junior Counsel] and Pat McCartan, Michael D. White & Co. Solicitors 09/04/1981-18/05/1982 which includes copies of correspondence between Liam Maguire and the County Registrar (12/2/1979-20/12/1980), drafts and photocopies of legal papers such as Plenary Summons and Statement of Claim, with notations and replies from Maguire to questions from McCartan (16/11/1981), photocopy of letter from Dr Patrick C. Murray, Consultant, Rehabilitation Medicine, Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Dun Laoghaire (24/11/1981) stating nature of Maguire's injuries following accident and his mental and physical health and capabilities following rehabilitation, and letter from McCartan to MR giving information on how Jury panels were normally drawn up (18/05/1982); faded photocopies of correspondence between Pat McCartan and Louis J. Dockery, Chief State Solicitor 05/10/1981; A4 booklet "Access for the disabled - minimum design criteria", produced by the National rehabilitation Board, 11/1979; copy of letter from MR to Ercus Stewart which she sent him along with her file on case, to allow him to take care of case while she was in San Francisco [lecturing] (03/06/1982); correspondence from Pat McCartan to MR requesting she give drafting of replies attention, as there had been no response from Inge Clissman, B.L. who had taken over as Junior Counsel from Ercus Stewart, 28/02/1983-21/04/1983; letter to MR from John Mc Adam, Chairman of Trustees, the Liam Maguire Trust, 07/08/1984, thanking her for agreeing to become a patron, and including invite and programme for first Liam Maguire Lecture, "Independent Living for the Disabled", taking place in the National Concert Hall on 18/09/1984, with Judith E. Heumann, Associate Director, World Institute on Disability, Berkeley, California as Speaker; single page with handwritten address and phone number for Peter Moore [unsure of relevance]; cuttings (20/08/1979-06/10/1983). Also includes letter to MR from Peter Moore, who was writing biography of Liam Maguire on behalf of the Irish Wheelchair Association, 11/01/1985, flyer for "The Politics of Disability - The Finnish Experience", Kalle Könkkölä, Liam Maguire Lecture, National Concert Hall, 30/09/1986 and letter of invite to Liam Maguire Lecture, National Concert Hall, from John McAdam, at which Ted Kennedy Junior was speaking, and ticket stub, 29/09/1987.
[Archivist's Note 1: MR was Senior Counsel on this case, but temporarily handed over that role to Ercus Stewart, her Junior Counsel, while she was on lecturing trip to San Francisco, United States of America.
Note 2: Mary Robinson subsequently becomes patron of the Liam Maguire Trust].
