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Sabrina McKiernan with her guide dog, Basil.
A VISUALLY impaired Tralee woman is regularly left standing at a crossing in town, sometimes for up to ten minutes, because the audible function at the traffic lights has been inactive for the past five months.
Sabrina McKiernan, from the Mitchels area, must wait at the crossing on Castle Street, outside the entrance to St John’s Church, for a member of the public to come along and help her to the other side of the road.
“Sometimes I have to approach someone to help me cross, but people in Tralee are good so a lot of them will have the common sense to know I need to cross the road,” said Sabrina, who is well known as a singer, with two CDs released.
With her faithful guide dog, Basil, by her side – Sabrina attends mass at St John’s and on occasion sings during the service.
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The crossing at Castle Street is a well-trodden path for her, but she has also experienced difficulties with the audible function at other crossings in town too.
Sabrina is now restricted with the times she can use the crossing. If she uses it early in the morning she says she could be standing for up to half an hour, because no-one is around.
While Sabrina did not contact Kerry County Council directly, she has brought the issue up with the Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind, the National Council for the Blind and a local county councillor.
When we contacted Kerry County Council for an update on the matter, we were informed the problem was that a button had to be replaced on the mechanism on the traffic light outside Benner’s Hotel.
That button function – which had been vandalised – has already been ordered and it’s expected the audio function will be fixed very soon.
The audio signal on the traffic lights outside the former Albany Paints store, across from St John’s, had been fixed in early December after the Council was notified of the problem by the National Council for the Blind.
Known for her singing voice around town, Sabrina has released two CD’s of music that are also available on iTunes. Down the years she has performed with Mary Black, Davey Arthur and the late Christy Hennessy.
Along with performing in St John’s, the Mitchels Road native is available for weddings where she says the feedback has been “amazing”.
“I’m hoping I can get in and do more weddings, I know it’s a difficult area but maybe people might be looking for something different,” said Sabrina.
Her faith is important so singing in church is something very special “It’s prayer in song, definitely. It enhances the service as well. I try and bring relevance with the songs and hymns I chose”
If you are interested in booking Sabrina for a wedding or a function you can contact her HERE
