Brendan O’Connor spoke so eloquently about his daughter Mary, who has Down syndrome, last night that it is not surprising huge support was been shown towards the star.
That was the best item on #LateLateShow tonight. Bravo for speaking out for Mary & all kids with special needs Brendan O Connor
— Barbara Scully (@barbarascully) May 13, 2016
Talking on last night’s The Late Late Show, Brendan said Ireland’s lack of support for those with disabilities now will cause us to consider this time as an “inhumane culture” in two decades.
Opening up to Ryan Tubridy, the comedian honestly said that when he found out about his daughter’s disability he thought their lives were “ruined”.
“The reality is, and it’s terribly upsetting, the reality is that people like my daughter are, it’s all very well that we look at them, and go ‘aren’t they great’ but as a society the way we treat them is appalling,” he said.
“We will look back on how we treat these children now and we will go that was an inhumane culture we lived in.”
Watching #latelate on +1. Fair play Brendan O'Connor for calling out the shocking extent to which children are being let down by the system.
— Ciaran O'Rourke (@doalty) May 13, 2016
Adding that he feels lucky to be living in Dublin where services are nearby, he said he feels for those around the country who have to travel for help.
“If you knew the struggle that mothers [go through], there is a lot of extra work involved there, there is a lot of pain involved there as well," he said.
“To lump on top of that then for these women, and it is mainly women, you do nothing to help them, to help the kids have some coping skills in life. There is nothing. There is less and less out there all the time. Talk to any parent.”
Brendan O' Connor killed it on the #LateLateShow . Such an important conversation
— Louise O' Neill (@oneilllo) May 13, 2016
Excellent job Brendan O'Connor. Direct and real description of being a parent of a child with #downsyndrome #latelate
— Rónán Johnston (@Ronan_Johnston) May 13, 2016
