'First night down!'- Tipperary girl sleeping outside Dáil to protest lengthy autism waitlists

A 14-year-old girl named Cara Darmody from Ardfinnan in Tipperary has begun a 50-hour long protest outside Leinster House.

Her protest has started on Tuesday last, in the hopes of getting the Government to address the large number of children awaiting an assessment for a disability or autism for six months or longer.

Cara slept in a tent outside the Dáil on Tuesday night with her dad, alongside members of An Garda Siochana.

"Currently, 15,000 children are on a waiting list for the formal procedure, set out under the Disability Act 2005, that identifies a child’s health and educational needs. By law, children must be seen to within six months, according to a report by The Journal.

Cara has since met with The Taoiseach Micháel Martin where she can be seen stood alongside him in a picture posted to her Facebook account 'Inspiration by Cara Darmody'.

The Tipperary teen has two brothers Neil and John who both have autism, and has been campaigning to have the Government stop breaking the assessments of needs law.

"First night down!! I'm live on Ireland AM again at 7.15am!! A huge thank you to my Dad and the amazing members of An Garda Siochana who stood over me all night!! Unfortunately they got absolutely soaked to keep me dry and to let me sleep!! The Gardai filled hot water bottles, minded me, and we're just incredible!!!" Cara said in a recent social media post.

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Cara captioned the post, "Don't let anyone ever tell you that sleeping in a tent doesn't make an impact!!!".

Cara made history in Ireland when she became the only person in Ireland to ever sit a Junior Cycle & Leaving Cert exam (maths) while still in national school.