02 Ability award gives county a timely boost - Cavan County Manager

"This is for the 65,000 people in Cavan and the award belongs to all of them," stated Cavan County Manager, Jack Keyes, following Cavan County Council's declaration as overall 02 Ability Award winners in the non private sector for 2010. Mr. Keyes was speaking at the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham, following the prestigious awards ceremony last Wednesday night at which Cavan County Council was given due national honour for its pioneering work in the creation of access facilities for the disabled both at the council's own service centres and also across the wider county. The presentation of this national award recognises the Cavan local authority for its work in implementing a whole series of initiatives in making life more manageable for people with disabilities. Such measures include wall-mounted hydraulic lifts at the local swimming pool to help disabled users; accessible parking at the motor tax office, as well as an automated queuing machine, facilities for hearing aid users at counter and Braille signage. The Johnston Central Library and Farnham Centre is also praised for its accessibility having won the Mary Finch Accessibility award in public library buildings in 2007. Interviewed by The Anglo-Celt, Jack Keyes said that the award was a timely boost given the more disappointing news in the county in recent times. The 02 Ability award presented the county in a positive light and was an example of what was achievable. He recalled that seven years ago, the council started working with the Equality Authority and Library Council to look at library services initially to see how they could improve services for people with disabilities. "The library is an appropriate place to start because of the challenges of reading, accessing the Internet and the need for it to be physically accessible. The Farnham building was designed with a huge emphasis on catering for people with disability," he says. He complements the vision of Cavan County Librarian, Josephine Brady and her staff in promoting the concept of a library service that is fully accessible to all users. The philosophy embraced by Cavan County Council is that people with disabilities should have full access to every service and therefore accessibility initiatives have become part of the fabric of how the local authority carries out its work. This is evidenced given that Cavan County Council was shortlisted in all six Abililty Award categories. Social inclusion is also very much part of the access programme promoted by Cavan County Council. According to the County Manager this led to the formation of the aptly named Craic team in 2003. Craic means "creating reasonable accommodation in Cavan" and includes members from all departments within the council. "This group meets regularly to plan and implement actions in this area," he says. Another important milestone was the formation of a local advisory group, which has representatives from some of the main disability organisations. "This group is consulted on our future plans and are able to input significantly into the decision making process," reveals the Cavan County Manager. Jack Keyes recognises the important role played by the Department of Environment in providing funding to enable the council undertake access improvements. The council seeks to draw down funding available and some €2m has been spent in improving access facilities for the disabled at council level. Cavan County Council's commitment to pursuing its accessibility programme in a purposeful manner was reflected in the appointment of Emma Breiden as full-time access officer in 2007. Emma has been able to devote her considerable energy to accelerating progress in this field. Des Maguire, the council's head of finance is in charge of the Craic team and the County Manager is proud of the fact that 95% of all of the council staff have received disability awareness training. "The emphasis has been on changing attitudes. Essentially it is our view that prejudice and negative feelings very often arise from lack of knowledge about a particular group or a fear of the unknown. The approach here was to work with staff, break down any barriers which may have been there so that when they deal with a citizen with disability they have the skills and confidence to be able to offer a very good service," said Mr. Keyes. As County Manager, Jack Keyes says that one of local government's main ambitions is to combat social exclusion. "An interesting outcome of our work is that by catering for people with disabilities in a holistic way that one finds oneself catering for all citizens in a more effective manner," explained the County Manager. According to Mr. Keyes, there are about 50 different initiatives either started or completed throughout the Cavan County Council organisation including efforts to make the All-Ireland Fleadh Cheoil as accessible as possible. "We hope to receive certification from Fáilte Ireland that would be the first ever achieved in Ireland, that the Fleadh would be accessible and work is ongoing in that regard," he says. Commenting on the great achievement of securing the 02 Ability Award, Cavan County Council Access officer, Emma Breiden, said: "We couldn't have achieved this success without the real energy and enthusiasm of all council staff." The chairman of Cavan County Council, Winston Bennett, said that this 02 Ability Award was achieved by putting people with disabilities first. "This ensures that local people with disabilities have, through the CRAIC advisory group, a clear voice in our efforts to deliver universal accessibility," he stated. Amanda O'Keefe, chair of the CRAIC Advisory Group, says that access used to be a major issue for her son, Dillon, but Cavan County Council's initiatives have had a major positive impact on their lives. "When I visit other towns I now realise just how much has been done for people with disabilities in Cavan. I also know that there is a real can-do attitude and a determination to succeed within the county council."