25 signatures reached
To: MLAs at Stormont.
Stop discrimination on the grounds of age in Northern Ireland
Introduce immediate legislation in the Stormont Assembly to make all forms of discrimination on the grounds of age in Northern Ireland illegal as it is in England, Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland.
Why is this important?
It is still legal to discriminate against people in Northern Ireland in relation to the provision of goods, facilities and services on the basis of the person's age unlike in Britain and the Republic of Ireland.
Older people in Northern Ireland endured the 'Troubles' for many years and looked forward to the 'peace dividend', only to find that their elected representatives can't agree to give them the same protection under the law as is enjoyed by older people in the rest of the UK & Ireland.
The Northern Ireland Executive includes a proposal to introduce legislation to outlaw age discrimination in its Programme for Government in 2011, but has so far failed to get agreement in the Assembly for this over the last 4 years.
Prof. Mark Lawler of Queen's University Belfast has described how many older people were being denied possible life saving and enhancing cancer treatments each year purely on the grounds of age.
How it will be delivered
The petition will be delivered in person.
