New Group Aims To Improve Access For People With Disabilities

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The meeting of the Tralee Access Group on Wednesday morning at Enable Ireland. Front from left; George Dineen, Helen Fitzgerald, James Fitzgerald, Anne O’Brien. Back from left; Petrina Comerford, Mary Carroll, National Advocacy Service; Aine O’Sullivan, Disability Federation Ireland; Jean Foley, Kerry County Council Access Officer; Caroline Robson NCBI and Eugene O’Sullivan. Photo by Dermot Crean

A NEW group has been formed in Tralee to with the aim of removing barriers to accessing built environment communal spaces in town for people with disabilities.

The Tralee Access Group (TAG), which met at the Enable Ireland offices in Edward Street on Wednesday morning, is an independent group, formed in early 2016 by Áine O’Sullivan, Community Development Worker for Disability Federation Ireland (DFI) and Caroline Robson, Rehabilitation Worker for Vision Impairment, NCBI Working for People with Sight Loss with the aim of working in partnership with stakeholders to work towards universal accessibility to public communal spaces in the built environment.

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The group was formed to ensure the barriers to accessing the built environment be removed and to give a platform to the voices of people with all disabilities around access issues they experience.

The group meets once a month at various accessible venues around Tralee and a small group of representatives from the main group has arranged to meet on a regular basis with Kerry County Council Access Officer, Jean Foley, in a bid to discuss and hopefully ameliorate inaccessible areas of the built environment within Tralee town.

The Access Group’s main overarching aim is to help achieve universal independent access to the built environment communal spaces within Tralee town; and to improve the quality of life for people with disabilities and those with mobility problems.

The group will seek to do this by:

• Identifying issues and working together collectively to address these issues

• Pro-actively sharing information, experiences and training opportunities across the group

• Evaluating current access and putting forward practical recommendations so that accommodation provision can be improved and enhanced

• Liaising with other voluntary organisations, networks and government bodies on issues of shared concern

• Promoting current positive examples of accessibility