Joanne O’Riordan, disability activist, motivational speaker, sports journalist, and student of law

In April 2012, in the week she celebrated her 16th birthday, Joanne O’Riordan addressed the United Nations in New York on the topic of girls in technology, receiving a standing ovation and making headlines around the globe. It was an extraordinary moment and a memory that Joanne still cherishes. It does not however, surpass the highlight of her life so far — meeting her hero, soccer legend Lionel Messi, when she attended a Barcelona game at the Nou Camp for her 18th birthday. Sport, from GAA to the NFL, is one of her great passions and also an area where she has shone professionally, as a sports columnist and media contributor.  

By any standards, Joanne has packed a lot into her life so far, challenging the government on disability funding as a schoolgirl, completing a degree in criminology at UCC, and travelling the world as a campaigner. What makes her list of achievements even more remarkable is that she has done all of this while living with tetra-amelia syndrome, a rare condition that means she was born without limbs. The title of the 2013 documentary about her life, No Limbs, No Limits, directed by her brother Steven, encapsulates her approach to dealing with the considerable challenges of living, studying and working in a world created for able-bodied people.  

Joanne, the youngest of five, grew up in Millstreet, Co Cork, a short distance from the Kerry border, but describes herself as “a Rebel to the bone".  From the start, her parents Joe and Anne were determined to treat her the same as her three brothers and sister. The rough and tumble of family life, from wrestling with her brother Denis to acting as goalie for her brother Danny’s shooting practice, imbued her with a toughness that has stood her in good stead, as well as a hugely competitive streak. 

Her boldness came to the fore in 2011 when Enda Kenny visited Millstreet while on the election campaign trail and she questioned him on protecting people with disabilities. He assured her he would do everything in his power to do so but when he became Taoiseach, the Government cut the domiciliary payment to people aged under 18 living with a disability. Joanne went into action, writing a powerful, hard-hitting piece about how the cut would affect her and others, which appeared on the front page of The Irish Examiner the next day. It eventually led to a U-turn on the decision by the Government and set her on the path to becoming a journalist. 

On completing her leaving cert, Joanne was awarded a prestigious Quercus scholarship at UCC and went on to study criminology. It was an exciting time and she relished it, living independently and enjoying the student social life. She also spent a year in the English city of York as part of the Erasmus programme, an experience she describes as “fundamental in terms of defining who I was and the kind of life I wanted to lead”. 

It also showed her what was possible in terms of getting the necessary supports. As she says: “It wasn't until I left college that I realised adult services just aren't there when you're out of education. And I think if it wasn't for the supports I got in UCC, I wouldn't be able to hold the supports I received to a certain standard.” 

Joanne went on to build a career as a journalist, writing columns for The Irish Examiner, The Irish Times and contributing to coverage of the 2024 Paralympics in Paris for RTÉ which proved to be a revelatory experience. Seeing the Paralympic Village and how it was designed to cater to the needs of people with disabilities was eye-opening: “That was probably the first time I saw that come together and I took great inspiration from it.” 

Writing was also important in allowing her an identity apart from the public perception of her as an activist. As she said: “Plenty of people are curious about how I write, but I would prefer it if they cared about what I write.” 

Joanne is now focused on pursuing a career in law, a natural progression from her media work and a field she has been interested in since studying criminology. She sees a legal career as a reinvention and a natural progression in terms of advocating for the rights of people with disabilities and all minorities. Preparing to enter a new professional arena has also brought home how far Ireland has to go in terms of providing services and support to people with disabilities. She says it can be exhausting and frustrating to constantly fight for the basic needs that most people take for granted. “You don't realise how many Government departments you have to get involved with to get the thing that one person can just show up and do.” 

She also acknowledges that it is sometimes “very hard to be a trailblazer” and is forthright about people paying lip service to equality of access for people with disabilities without taking action to make it happen: “Don’t clap me for jumping the hurdle. Help me remove it.”  

Knowing that she is in a position to facilitate change keeps her going. Most of all, she is determined to stay curious and open to all opportunities. She recalls interviewing the well-known US soccer player Christen Press who described herself as ‘World Cup winner, soccer player and rookie for life’. She has embraced that philosophy of staying curious, open and interested. “That's very much the attitude that I take — that you're always learning everywhere you go.”