A pathway to improved accessibility

GORT is set to be made more accessible next year after Galway County Council confirmed it has been in contact with the National Roads Authority (NRA) about footpaths in the town.
Deputy Mayor of Galway County Council Bridie Willers tabled a motion at a recent meeting of the local authority, calling for the town to be made wheelchair accessible.
“There don’t have to be complaints about this, anyone who looks can see the problem,” Councillor Willers told The Clare Champion.
She said a survey in Gort by a disability interest group highlighted the shortfall with regard to the state of the footpaths.
“There are some new footpaths in the town but others leave an awful lot to be desired. What we take for granted as accessible can be extremely difficult if you are pushing a wheelchair or a buggie or if you are visually impaired or have any mobility difficulty. You will find that lip or edge on a path is a disaster and you can go out on top of your head,” she commented.
Councillor Willers asked Galway County Council to “seek funding from the Department of the Environment to improve footpaths in the town of Gort to make the town wheelchair accessible and if this funding is not forthcoming, that a special allocation is made from the roads programme funding to have this work carried out until such a time that all paths are fully accessible”.
“There are many areas within the town where access is very poor or not there at all,” she added.
In a written response, county secretary Michael Owens stated local authority staff recently met with the relevant inspector in the NRA regarding proposals of work on the footpaths in Gort.
“It is proposed, providing funding is made available, to carry out a scheme of works there next year, including alterations to the footpath at the post office, at Sullivan’s Hotel, the bus stop and at the AIB bank,” he said.
Councillor Willers believes the response is positive. “The NRA have said they will look at doing a bigger stretch of the footpath and that is a good thing but I really want to make sure they do it and that funding is made available. If you look at the state of the footpaths, some of the paths have unravelled.
“It is only when you look at how inaccessible some of the paths are, when you put yourself in the position of a wheelchair user, that you find out how utterly inadequate the footpaths are. We take accessibility for granted. We don’t think about what it is like for other people. It is not deliberate but even things like cars being parked on the footpath, these are obstructions for a pram or a wheelchair,” she added.
Footpaths are not the only difficulty in the town for people with reduced mobility. “There is a serious problem in Gort. It is a heritage town and there are a lot of steps in it. In the area of the post office, in particular, where a lot of older people have to go to collect their pensions, they congregate in that area and that corner in particular is a death trap,” Councillor Willers said.
“For the rest of us too, we are entitled to have footpaths that are not dangerous so that we don’t break our ankles. We need to do more as a community to highlight accessibility. It is a matter of prioritising issues, getting funding and making sure people are aware of the problems faced by others. Accessibility is a fundamental right,” the Fine Gael councillor concluded.