Disability campaigners will take to streets and shopping centres across the State seeking public support for a law enshrining basic rights for disabled people.
The groups have organised a petition, which will be presented to the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, next week.
Groups supporting the campaign include the Forum for People with Disabilities, Down Syndrome Ireland, the Centre for Independent Living, the Irish Nurses Organisation, Amnesty International and the National Association of Intellectually Disabled of Ireland (NAMHI).
The campaign is part of the national Rights Make the Differencetaking place simultaneously in major towns and cities.
Those who sign the petition will be asked to support the introduction of a rights-based Disability Bill to "protect the fundamental human rights of people with disabilities in Ireland and to end the widespread discrimination they experience in the provision of basic services from the State."
One of the campaign's co-ordinators, Mr Seamus Greene of the National Parents and Siblings Alliance (NPSA) said a new Disability Bill is due to be published this month.
"The last time the government tried to produce a Disability Bill was in 2001 but astonishingly, this did not give people with disabilities rights or accessto a legal action if the Government did not live up to the terms of that Bill.
"Following widespread protests from the general public and disability groups the Government was forced into a climbdown which ultimately led to them abandoning the Bill," he said.
Mr Greene said disability groups were "fearful" that the new Bill would again deny or limit people's rights.
"This is why it is crucial that as many people as possible express their support for a rights-based Bill through our petition in order to send a strong message to our Government, TDs and Senators that they will stand for nothing less than a piece of legislation that once and for all unequivocally enshrines the rights of people with disabilities into Irish law."