Independent Living in Ireland

The first Irish Centre for Independent Living (CIL), CIL Carmichael House (CIL CMH), was established in 1992 by and for people with disabilities. Its main aim was to ensure that people with disabilities achieved independent living and full participation in society. A grassroots organisation, it offered an advocacy and a campaigning representation role for people with disabilities. It strived to bring about a social model of service delivery, with policy decisions that would include input from those whose lives were actually affected rather than solely from the non-disabled professionals working in the disability industry.

CIL CMH also assumed an action-research role in relation to Independent Living (IL) internationally. It did this by monitoring IL developments, and pursuing 'action' (or change) and 'research' (or understanding) simultaneously, thereby learning from experience and incorporating information from best international practices into an Irish context.

In 2009, CIL CMH became one of the lead organisations promoting Independent Living in Europe. CIL CMH is now responsible for coordinating the western region of the European Network on Independent Living (ENIL).