Áine O'Hara

It has been an exceptionally difficult couple of years to be disabled in Ireland but the run up to the care referendum was particularly difficult. Seeing a magazine meant to represent the broad spectrum of queer people on this island advocate for a yes vote so solidly was really hurtful and added to the feelings of exclusion we as queer disabled people face when attempting to access queer spaces. I am grateful to @gcnmag for taking an opportunity to highlight disabled voices now and I hope that this can be a call to the broader community to commit to learning about disability justice and making your radical spaces accessible to all. I also hope this is not the last time we see disability on the cover! There are some incredible pieces of writing in this article including from Alannah Murray, Blezzing Dada and Suzy Byrne and I encourage you to read them and work to embed the principles of disability justice in how you live. Truly an honour to share this with Alannah and Blezzing and every other advocate and activist working tirelessly in Ireland right now. Nothing about us without us. Photo by Steven Peice @stevenpeice Thanks so much to @_alicelinehan for this! Image descriptions in comments and alt text!

So unbelievably proud of this community of activists and all the people and groups who made submissions, came to protests, raged from bed!! Green paper has been scrapped!! Id 1: large group of disabled activists outside in the rain on O’Connell street, dressed colourfully in front of a banner that says ‘scrap the green paper’ Id 2: a pic of áine speaking at a protest last year in front of Leinster house, Tara is holding the mic for me and I have a pink cane, red granny skirt and red mask on #scrapthegreenpaper

Open Day bits! Being around everyone for @projectartscentre open day last week was such a joy and gave me hope for what’s possible in terms of accessibility in the arts. Photos 1+2 by @ste_murray ID 1: close up of me speaking at the open day, my fringe is curly and red, I’m wearing a pink top with black mesh shirt that you can see my tattoos through and holding my iPad. I’m wearing a light pink mask. ID 2: wide shot of me and tara in a theatre space speaking to a small audience at open Day. ID 3: me and Day with our arms in the air in the dressing room at Project arts centre Id 4: Close up of my hand holding the wonderful queer Crip fits zine Id 5: Me and @nonbinaryicon looking strong at Queer Crip fits Id 6: selfie in the lift mirror holding a pink bag Id 7: me and Tara sitting in front of a projection of the chronic collective logo at our presentation

Made a new poster for the upcoming @dada_campaign AGM More details on the AGM to be announced soon but for now save the date Image description : Illustration of long blue desk, on the desk there are tools that disabled artists and academics might use: a pencil, headphones, drumsticks, flute, iPad, paintbrush, notebook, spoon, magnifying glass, tape, hammer, notebook, hot water bottle, ruler, cassette tape, camera, spool. Text reads: DADA AGM, a disability arts DPO, 3rd of June and a space for disabled artists to come together to build collective power in the arts with Disabled people leading the conversation.

Happy to share my latest article for Visual artists Ireland news sheet today. @visualartistsireland I write about the joy I experienced getting to access This Body Keeps Me Up At Night: 30 Years of Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha at Tangled arts Canada through their online access both with a curators tour and through Rosa the robot @tangled_arts @thellpsx and how online access to the arts is really limited and underutilised here in Ireland. I so desperately want to be able to use a small robot to visit Irish art galleries or watch plays online from Ireland. I saw what was possible when the majority were in lockdown, what if we made things accessible for those of us who are bedbound or housebound in perpetual lockdown? You can find the paper in galleries and arts centres across the country and anyone else you can read the online version if you are a member and it will be added to issuu when the next issue comes out. ID: Áine in bed holding up a black and white newspaper in front of their face. They are in bed you can see pink and white striped sheets and pillows. Their head is peaking out around the paper and you can see messy curly black greying hair and one eye.

Artist Talk: Happy to say I will be speaking on bedbound practice (from bed) at this virtual talk for Affective Forms at @luangalleryathlone along with @aoifebanks @phelimhoey and @_____rajinder this Thursday. Wish me luck! It’s been a long time since I have done something like this. Affective Forms: In Conversation 📅 Thursday 9th April 🕘7pm. 🎟️ Free 🔗 Email [email protected] to access the talk Join Affective Forms artists Áine O’Hara, Phelim Hoey, and Rajinder Singh in conversation with curator Aoife Banks on Thursday, 9 April at 7pm. This online event will explore each artist’s current practice, highlighting the shared themes and processes that connect their work. This event is free to attend. To access this talk please email [email protected] ID: Áine standing on stage holding a microphone, wearing a pink ffp2 mask and a pink corset over a black dress. Wearing a Berlin buyers club pin that says ‘Cure long covid’ and has a sad face on it. I have curly dark brown hair with orange bangs.

Affective forms is currently open at Luan Gallery Athlone until 12th April curated by Aoife Banks @aoifebanks As part of this exhibition we are really excited to be showing our work together for the first time! Áines work explores what it means to create while bed bound after over a year of severe illness, the work reflects fatigue, pain, isolation, and reduced capacity, yet asserts presence in public spaces where sick and disabled bodies are often excluded, challenging assumptions about access, visibility, and legitimacy. Tara’s installation Resonance Ripples is an interactive, tactile work that invites audiences to engage through touch, connection, and shared sensory experience. Tara is also leading a workshop this weekend as part of the exhibition (link in our bio to sign up): Please Touch
Saturday 4 April, 2:30pm, Luan Gallery Taking place within the installation, this workshop explores touch as a way of connecting - to ourselves, to each other, and to the present moment. Through guided exercises and discussion, it considers bodily autonomy, accessibility, gender, and disability, creating a space to think through how touch moves between bodies and across unseen communities. The workshop is designed to be relaxed and accessible (with seating, masks provided, and step-free access), centring collective care and sensory engagement. ID 1: Installation view: Tara Carroll, Resonance Ripples, 2024-Ongoing, Installation: Velvet, electric blanket, foam, duvet filling, wood, carpet, marble, electric heat pad, poly-linen, embroidery thread, vinyl To right of Taras work 4 Corriboard pink signs, Aine O’Hara, wood, corriboard. ID 2: Close up of pink protest sign that reads: RULES FOR MY LIFE IN BED: • NO TV/MUSIC/PHONE * NO SITTING UP * NO LIGHTS * AVOID SMELLS AT ALL COSTS * NO ARGUING * NO EXPLAINING * NO SADNESS OR JOY * NO PUSHING ID 3: Pink wavy background, laid over closeup of velvet green seat, text reads: PLEASE TOUCH Participatory Workshop by Tara Carroll Saturday 4th April, 2.30pm, Luan Gallery, Elliott Rd, Athlone #AffectiveForms #LuanGallery #ChronicCollective #DisabilityArts #IrishArt Access CripArt

We’ve been spending some time reflecting on past work and want to share it, starting with one of our favourite projects 💗 This is the High Risk Club, with storytelling and music from the brilliant @hoganddice , @aoifewolf and @arg___art It was one of the highlights of all our years, such a special night of connection, care and joy. The High Risk Club is a masked event, with air purifiers and testing in advance and is created so people who are high risk can gather safely, and it continues to feel so important to make space like this together. We’re always so grateful to collaborate with @a4soundsstudios as they are consistently open to mess, experimentation, and making things as accessible as possible with us 🖤 Funded by @artscouncilireland as part of the we only want the earth programme with A4 Sounds Projection design by @misc.aine ID 1: Collage of 2 images, first image of Anna Roberts-Gevalt playing the fiddle to a small crowd with navy and pink lighting and a projection which features hand drawn text reading ‘the high risk club’ surrounded buy hand drawn stars. The second image features Aoife wolf on stage lit by the navy projection of starts, singing and playing guitar. ID 2: Hog and Dice standing on stage wearing a mask, telling stories to a small crowd under pink light, with the high risk club’ surrounded buy hand drawn stars projected on the screen to the right ID 3: Aine a few days before the show, standing in front of the ‘high risk club’ projection setting up, wearing a purple ffp2.

Took Áine's little doll out into the garden today, to the flowers and the bees. @misc.aine has been bed bound for more than 475 days due to severe M.E, an awful chronic illness that significantly limits her day to day life. Her project invites you to take her doll self to places the real Áine can't go and to share the photos you take with her. To get a doll, send Áine a message or pick one up in @luangalleryathlone where Áine is also exhibiting! Image descriptions in the comments below 👇

Yesterday M & I went to Bray with our pals E and her mum Marta and took the artist Áine O’Hara @misc.aine along in doll form! Áine is doing a project where bc she’s stuck at home with chronic illness at the moment, she’s sending various people an Áine paper doll to take along to places she can’t currently go. Here’s what we got up to. 1, 2, 3:: what arrived in the post. 4:: ready to go with stick, hot water bottle & squishmallow. let’s hit it. 5:: Sandymount dart station! M and his pal E helped her pose. 6:: Á with a mobile wheelchair platform. 7:: This photo was E’s idea. ‘Because her body is kind of out of order at the moment.’ 8:: Making the most of beautiful weather. 9:: Glasthule. Nearly there. Luckily plenty of seats on the train. 10:: Bray head! 11: E had the idea to make Áine a sofa and a coffee table so she could relax. 12:: Snacks. Mango sorbet from Gino’s and some crisps. 13:: Playground. E and M climbing. 14:: Wrecked and playing silly word games on the train home. #ainedoll

I’m too sick to attend the disability march tomorrow, but I will be joining in spirit from my bed. For many of us, even getting out the door isn’t possible and that’s why I am asking allies that can to march tomorrow in place of those of us who are housebound or unable to get to the protest due to lack of support or limited finances. Disabled people and their allies are mobilising against Budget 2026, which has cut up to €1,400 a year from disabled households. Disabled people across Ireland are being pushed further into poverty as a policy choice. We are being asked to survive on supports that do not cover the basics. People are choosing between heating and eating. If you are able to please go, we deserve more than scraps - here I am back in 2024 protesting against the green paper and then a small protest sign I made in bed today. 📅 Saturday 28 Feb | Garden of Remembrance | 1pm. Moving from Garden of Remembrance to Custom House Quay - you can also join at Custom House Quay to see speeches. Image description: ID 1: I am standing near the Dáil holding a black and white sign that says ‘Disability Justice Now’. My curly hair is down, I am wearing a light pink top, a happy sad face patterned dress and a pink ffp3 mask. ID 2: My hand holds a sign up to the sunlight in my room. The handmade sign reads ‘Our poverty is a policy choice’

You can see my portrait at the National Gallery for three more weeks before it heads to @regionalculturalcentre I have some sort of vague hope I will be able to get there myself before it ends but if not it’s alright because I got a personal tour from @brily.yy last year. See the AIB Portrait Prize 2025 exhibition at the National Gallery of Ireland until 15 March; admission free. The exhibition will travel to two partner venues this year - Regional Cultural Centre, Letterkenny (4 April – 20 June 2026) and Waterford Gallery Of Art (18 July – 11 October 2026). ID 1: Portrait of me, hanging in National Gallery on a white wall with a tiled patterned brown floor below. I am sitting up in bed, in a pink room, my sheets are pink and orange stripes and I am wearing red sunglasses. I have long black curly hair and a fringe. ID 2: Photo of Briley hiding her face with a tripod arm which is holding her phone as she takes a photo below her. The ceiling is light pink with bright pink accents. ID 3: Mock up of a phone showing a video call with my portrait and a small image of me and my green Squishmallow ‘Wasabi’ looking at the portrait from home.