Joanne O'Riordan (born 24 April 1996) is an Irish activist and sports journalist who contributes to ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

.'' From

Millstreet Millstreet () is a town in north County Cork, Ireland. As of the 2022 census, it had a population of 1,722. Millstreet is within the civil parish of Drishane, and within a Poor Law Union also called Millstreet. The Millstreet Union encompasse ...

County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...

, she is one of seven currently living people born with the condition

tetra-amelia syndrome Tetra-amelia syndrome (''tetra-'' + '' amelia''), also called autosomal recessive tetraamelia, is an extremely rare autosomal recessive congenital disorder characterized by the absence of all four limbs. Other areas of the body are also affected b ...

. She has addressed the United Nations and discussed technology with

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

(MIT) and

Apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

. She was named "

Person of the Year __NOTOC__ Person of the Year, Man of the Year or Woman of the Year is an award given to an individual by any type of organization. Most often, it is given by a newspaper or other news outlet to annually recognize a public figure. Such awards hav ...

" in both 2012 and 2013.

Early life

Joanne O'Riordan was born in 1996 in

with

. She became a campaigner for

disability rights The disability rights movement is a global social movement that seeks to secure equal opportunities and equal rights for all disabled people. It is made up of organizations of disability activists, also known as disability advocates, around ...

in 2011. She used to swim as a child but stopped as a teenager as she had a

titanium Titanium is a chemical element; it has symbol Ti and atomic number 22. Found in nature only as an oxide, it can be reduced to produce a lustrous transition metal with a silver color, low density, and high strength, resistant to corrosion in ...

rod placed in her back to help with

scoliosis Scoliosis (: scolioses) is a condition in which a person's Vertebral column, spine has an irregular curve in the coronal plane. The curve is usually S- or C-shaped over three dimensions. In some, the degree of curve is stable, while in others ...

Activism

After developing "a random obsession" with

Fine Gael Fine Gael ( ; ; ) is a centre-right, liberal-conservative, Christian democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil Éireann. The party had a member ...

leader and prospective

Taoiseach The Taoiseach (, ) is the head of government or prime minister of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the President of Ireland upon nomination by Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...

Enda Kenny Enda Kenny (born 24 April 1951) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach from 2011 to 2017, Leader of Fine Gael from 2002 to 2017, Minister for Defence (Ireland), Minister for Defence from May to July 2014 and 2016 to 201 ...

, she took the morning off school to meet Kenny during the

2011 Irish general election The 2011 Irish general election took place on Friday 25 February to elect 166 Teachta Dála, Teachtaí Dála across Dáil constituencies, 43 constituencies to Dáil Éireann, the lower house of Republic of Ireland, Ireland's parliament, the Oir ...

campaign. Kenny was filmed vowing that he would not reduce disability funding if elected. Upon election, Kenny cut disability funding and O'Riordan wrote a letter of disappointment. Her public confrontation with Enda Kenny contributed to O'Riordan's increased profile. The government later reversed its decision. She later explained: "I thought Enda Kenny was a cool guy, you know, he always seemed really relaxed, and easy going. So I only went up for a picture and one of our local people from home was like 'why don't you ask him about people with disabilities', so I did and the local television were recording because it was a big thing for Millstreet, our Future Taoiseach coming. I suppose it was one really small thing that you just do and it just turned into a big thing." An invitation to appear on '' The Late Late Show'' followed. This brought her further attention. Ahead of her second appearance in June 2012, ''

'' described O'Riordan as "one of the guests on the show in recent years who has made the most impact on viewers". In April 2012, O'Riordan spoke before the United Nations in New York City, giving an address on the use of technology and challenging those present to build a robot for her to use. A standing ovation followed. Her brother Steven made a film of her life, titled ''No Limbs No Limits''.

Awards and honours

O'Riordan has received a Cork Person of the Month award, having been nominated by MEP Brian Crowley. In September 2012, she was named Young Person of the Year at Ireland's

People of the Year Awards The People of the Year Awards was an annual award show in Ireland. Organised by the Rehab Group, it was televised by Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). The Awards provided a unique opportunity for the Irish public to honour outstanding contribu ...

. In 2014, she was awarded the

Junior Chamber International Junior Chamber International, commonly referred to as JCI, is a non-profit international non-governmental organization of young people between and years old. It has members in about 127 countries, and regional or national organizations in mo ...

Outstanding Young Person of the Year award. She was Grand Marshall at Dublin's St Patrick's Festival parade in 2016, the youngest ever.

References

External links

Speech
at the United Nations
"No Limbs No Limits"
documentary/film on the life of Joanne O'Riordan

''Sunday Independent'', 3 March 2013 {{DEFAULTSORT:Oriordan, Joanne 1996 births Living people 2011 Irish general election Enda Kenny Irish amputees Irish activists with disabilities Irish sports journalists People from Millstreet Writers from County Cork People with tetra-amelia syndrome The Irish Times people 21st-century Irish journalists 21st-century Irish women journalists

Early life

Activism

Awards and honours

See also

References

External links