Unanimous council vote advances wheelchair accessibility in Mayo

Irish Wheelchair Association has welcomed a decision by Mayo councillors to pass a motion, at their recent council meeting, calling for an Access & Inclusion Officer position in Mayo County Council. Councillors Gerry Murray and Harry Barrett supported the motion, which was passed unanimously by Mayo councillors at the recent meeting last month.

Rosaleen Lally, National Access Programme Manager with Irish Wheelchair Association, thanked councillors in Mayo County Council for getting behind the campaign and using their position to improve disability access locally. "We are pleased that Mayo County Council passed this motion to support an Access & Inclusion Officer role in the council,” said Rosaleen Lally, IWA. “We know that people with disabilities cannot use many public buildings, paths, pedestrian crossings, bus stops, train stations, parks and beaches etc. in our communities across Ireland. “Every local authority in Ireland should have a dedicated Access & Inclusion Officer in their organisation to focus on solving some of these problems. Thanks to councillors in Mayo, we are a step closer today”.

In late March, IWA contacted local councillors across Ireland as part of its campaign to improve access to local services and amenities for people with disabilities and mobility issues. The campaign highlighted that 81% of local authorities do not have a dedicated Access Officer appointed to make public services and amenities more accessible.

“We know that many local authorities have ‘Access Officers’ but often these are simply additional job titles that are given to existing busy staff,” according to Rosaleen Lally. “Our local authorities have dedicated hardworking staff, but they cannot fix problems without budget and resources. That’s why this motion is so important because it acknowledges the need for dedicated staff and budget.”

Mayo is one of the councils in ten counties that have already passed the motion to support IWA's campaign since April, including Longford, Waterford, Kilkenny, Kerry, Sligo, Carlow, Cavan, Galway, and Tipperary. Irish Wheelchair Association is hoping for more nationwide support over the coming months as representatives from 23 out of 25 county councils have reached out to Irish Wheelchair Association to support the organisation’s call for local dedicated Access & Inclusion Officers.

Rosaleen added: “It's really encouraging to see what we can achieve for people with disabilities in our community when we work together. We are grateful for the support from Mayo councillors, and we are hopeful for progress around the county in the coming weeks.”

For more information visit here.