Irish Wheelchair Association hosts hustings event in Belmullet

The Belmullet branch of Irish Wheelchair Association (IWA) hosted a meeting yesterday to tell local election candidates just how difficult life can be in Belmullet, and beyond, when confined to a wheelchair.

They presented the candidates in attendance, outgoing councillor Sean Carey of Fianna Fáil, Rosaleen Lally of Sinn Féin, and Pat Chambers, Fine Gael, with a comprehensive list of issues which they want addressed.

"There are 17,977 people living with a disability in County Mayo, that’s 14% of the population but, we still have a long way to go before we can call ourselves an inclusive and accessible society," the IFA told candidates.

IWA members told of their everyday struggles navigating inaccessible footpaths, misuse of disabled parking bays, cars parking on footpaths, disabled parking bays with no dipped footpath and the fact that the buses travelling into Belmullet are accessible, yet there is no accessible bus stop from which to get onto the bus.

Teresa Gaughan told candidates.

"You need to recognise that a lot of these issues are not limited to people with disabilities. They are also dangerous for people with buggies and those with limited mobility using walking aids.” 

One other member told of how she fell close to 40 times on an inaccessible footpath outside her house and has been left needing a wheelchair due to long-term hip damage and thanked the staff at IWA for supporting her in the aftermath.

IWA continues to hold a series of hustings around the country so that the voices and concerns of people with disabilities are heard by local election candidates. The organisation is asking candidates to give a commitment to support the issues identified in IWA’s Local Elections Manifesto if elected.