The President of Ireland, Mary McAleese, today (Thursday 22nd July 2004) officially opened a resource centre for people with disabilities in Wexford. The Lochrann Centre, on Cinema Lane in Wexford will support the needs of people with sensory and physical disabilities in the Southeast of the country and is a partnership project between the National Council for the Blind of Ireland (NCBI), the Irish Wheelchair Association (IWA), the National Association for Deaf People (NAD) and the Wexford Deaf Association (WDA).
The building was purchased by Lochrann Ireland Ltd, a registered charity, with funds from Wexford Community Care. The building work was undertaken by FAS and materials were funded by the South Eastern Health Board and the local community’s fundraising efforts.
The centre offers day and outreach services for people with disabilities in the region. The programmes on offer in the Lochrann Centre are both social and developmental, and are designed to meet the needs of people with differing disabilities. The cooperation of the service providers in this centre ensures a standard of expertise from a wide range of disciplines, and enables them to facilitate in many cases a one stop shop approach to meeting people’s needs.
Services include an information service, technology training courses, meeting facilities, peer support group, talking newspaper and library facilities, Braille translation, family support groups, low vision service, leisure programmes, mobility
training, independent living skills, driving lessons and sign language courses. Leisure activity programmes are also offered such as ‘Ready, Steady, Cook’, creative writing, photography, yoga, first aid, Positive Living, sports and swimming, bodhran classes and craftwork.
The President took the time to meet with the staff and service users of the centre today, and was shown ‘The Waterfront’ magazine, produced by Lochrann service users, the office of the Wexford Talking Newspaper and a demonstration of accessible technology for people with sensory disabilities. She also viewed the mosaic feature and garden area created by Lochrann service users, and an exhibition of the art, craft, photography and design work.
The President commended the staff and service users of the centre saying “ The work done in this centre focussing as it does on the individual, making him or her stronger, more confident, more independent, more fulfilled, is also about the business of strengthening family, community and country. I wish all those who use this centre, all who work in it and all who support it, every success in the years ahead. May the lives changed here vindicate the faith and hard work of those who have created it and may each of those lives bring us nearer to the Ireland of lived, spontaneous equality we know we are capable of creating.”
Des Kenny, Chief Executive of the National Council for the Blind of Ireland thanked the President for her continued support to people with disabilities on behalf of the four disability groups. “It is our hope that the continued collaboration between the NCBI, the NAD, the WDA and the IWA will ensure that people with sensory and physical disabilities can benefit from the combined experiences and shared knowledge of the respective organisations, and I look forward to other similar enterprises in this region and beyond.”
ENDS