Access is 'no joke' for those with disabilities

This April, the Irish Wheelchair Association (IWA) is calling for a dedicated Access and Inclusion Officer in every local authority across Ireland, instead of the role being fulfilled as an add-on to another busy post, as part of their Access: It’s No Joke campaign, highlighting the barriers people with disabilities face on a daily basis.

Speaking to the Celt, Ruth Fox, service co-ordinator with the IWA Cavan Community Centre, says this is an “ongoing campaign” to ensure that inclusion and accessibility are built into planning processes, instead of being considered at the end of a process or when problems arise.

“Accessibility isn’t just having the right sized door, it’s being able to get through the door and beyond,” Ruth explains.

As an example of a physical barrier for people with disabilities, Ruth details a project on the main street in Cavan town, where scaffolding has been erected to make accessibility improvements to a building, which “hasn’t been thought through”, that may in turn hinder access to a footpath, and people may have to enter the road to get by it.

“From my perspective and what I hear from our members is they’d love advance warning,” she says of the disturbance.

A 2020 survey by the IWA found that 77% of people with physical disabilities have poor or no access to public spaces and amenities because of issues with pavements, parking, pedestrian crossings and more.

For Merilyn Morton, a visually impaired member of the IWA centre in Cavan, “something as simple” as a menu, a bin or roadworks on a footpath can “really get in the way”.

“It’s a huge problem for visually impaired or disabled people,” Merilyn says of a lack of accessibility.

From around 9am until 5pm, Monday to Thursday, the IWA Community Centre in Cavan provides a day care service for 35 adult members across the county, ranging in age from 25 to their late 70s, with physical and sensory disabilities.

With three accessible buses that they fundraised for, members are collected from their homes by staff and transported to the centre in Corlurgan Business Park.

Guided by the members, the centre facilitates educational programmes and activities such as cookery, baking, gardening and arts and crafts classes. Evening and weekend events, including trips away, are also organised.

According to Ruth, there is a great community amongst members, who are all “such great friends”, inside and outside of the service.

“For some people, especially those living in rural areas, we might be the only people they see from one end of the week to the next,” she reveals.

“It’s so important to every one of them coming in here, very rarely does anyone miss it or take a day off.”

Merilyn, who lives in between Cavan town and Ballinagh, has been attending the centre every second Wednesday for the past 11 years.

A premature baby, Merilyn’s retina detached at birth and she was left with zero sight in her left eye and around 5-10% vision in her right eye.

Merilyn, who is 33 years old and lives with her elderly father, describes the service as “absolutely essential”.

“I’ve made many friends since I started going there,” she tells this newspaper.

“It’s really boosted my confidence,” adds Merilyn, who uses a cane.

“I don’t tend to go very far.”

Apart from a Local Link bus that comes down her road every Wednesday morning, Merilyn depends on her father to drive her around.

“You have to plan everything for a Wednesday and then you only have something like two hours to get everything done when you get into town,” Merilyn describes the route.

“It’s fantastic but it’s not ideal.”

“As much as I love my dad and I’m very appreciative of him, there’ll come a day when he won’t be around anymore and I’ll have to make other arrangements,” she continues.

“There are a lot of barriers when you don’t drive and you rely on buses and canes to get you about.”

This barrier to independence is felt among most members, many of whom live in rural parts of Cavan, feels Ruth.

For a person with disabilities to go on an accessible Local Link bus, operated by Transport for Ireland (TFI), they must contact TFI at least two weeks in advance to make a request, Ruth notes.

However, she has “yet to hear” of anyone who has been able to make this request.

“I’ve contacted them myself and have had no response,” she continues, adding that she would “love to see” the service being provided because it would be a “huge addition”.

Acknowledging the reality of being an able-bodied person, Ruth says she has the “beauty” of being able to go places and meet people without having to think about it.

Where possible, the centre tries to bring members to appointments, which are typically in Dublin, to avoid the heavy financial burden of paying for taxis on those who can’t access public transport.

Community cars

As part of Cavan County Local Development (CCLD), there are also two community cars, ran by two volunteers, that members can avail of to bring them to their appointments.

Speaking to the Celt, Terry Hyland, Chief Executive of CCLD, says that the service is for “people who have no alternatives”.

“It’s doing a lot of good,” he says of the service, which is “busy”.

There are 185 people registered for the service and it is booked six weeks in advance.

CCLD has recently applied for funding to get another vehicle on the road.

Ruth believes the car is a “great addition” that “works really well” but more cars and drivers are needed.

In relation to the county town itself, Ruth said: “Cavan isn’t the easiest town to navigate around when you have a disability.”

At the most recent monthly meeting of Cavan County Council, in response to motions tabled by Cllr T.P. O’Reilly and Cllr Brendan Fay on the appointing of a full-time Access and Inclusion Officer, a senior Council official confirmed that there is a part-time access officer, who is doing “great work” but they are “quite restricted” as they are “tight on resources”.

The official confirmed that Cavan County Council is “very happy to explore” potential funding streams to appoint someone in a full-time position.

There is no IWA community centre in Monaghan but a spokesperson from Monaghan County Council confirmed that Monaghan County Council has a dedicated Access and Inclusion Officer.