New Dublin Billboards concern NCBI
NCBI has serious concerns over the erection of new advertising billboards in Dublin City centre as they pose a threat to the safety of people who are blind or vision impaired.
Des Kenny, NCBI’s Chief Executive, said “We are extremely concerned about the situation. We have been in contact with Dublin City Council (DCC) for 18 months in relation to this project and advised them that these billboards would pose a problem for people with sight loss unless they were designed and located with accessibility in mind.
“Following very constructive discussions with DCC we reached an agreement to work closely together to ensure that safety and accessibility were central features of the project. Unfortunately, DCC failed to deliver on that agreement.
Mr Kenny continued, “We will be seeking a meeting with DCC to work through the issues with them, particularly in relation to the finish of the steelwork which has sharp edges, and the choice of locations, which do not take account of proximity to pedestrian crossings, path width and the possible obscuring of the pedestrian by these signs.
“These issues are not only important for the safety of blind and vision impaired people, but to all pedestrians. I hope that the City will look to retrofit the existing billboards to deal with the extremely sharp edges that pose such a problem and that they will hold back on erecting any more until we can ensure they will be safe in terms of design and location. “The focus must be on addressing these issues as quickly as possible.”
President McAleese Hosts Disability Forum
On Thursday 19 June, President McAleese hosted a forum at Áras an Uachtaráin on the theme of ‘Disability – Access & Attitudes’.
The Forum aimed to provide a forum for the voices of people with disabilities, to discuss society’s attitudes towards people with a disability, to acknowledge existing supports available and to explore opportunities to promote inclusion and participation of people with disabilities in every aspect of society.
The President invited people with disabilities and representatives of key organisations working in the sector to address the forum for a few minutes.
NCBI was among those to be invited. NCBI Chief Executive, Des Kenny, said that for inclusion to be more than just a token exercise, it is vital that people with disabilities have a choice to participate in mainstream or specialist education, training and support.
Other speakers were drawn from the Disability Stakeholder’s Group, the National Disability Authority, the Office for Disability & Mental Health, the Irish Wheelchair Association, DeafHear and Headstrong, among others.
Joe Bollard, who edits NCBI’s FOCUS magazine, was also invited to speak at the event. Joe, who is blind, spoke about his own experiences and his own views on the progress that has been made and on the future challenges that lay ahead.
Professor Michael Schwartz, Assistant Professor of Law and Director of the Disability Rights Clinic, Syracuse University, New York chaired the forum. A report on the discussion and outcomes of the forum will be compiled by rapporteur, Patricia Noonan Walsh, Professor of Disability Studies at UCD.
First Gold for John Byrne and Swinford
Congratulations to 56 year old John Byrne from Swinford Co Mayo who won two medals at two recent 10-pin bowling tournaments for bowlers with vision impairments. This is a great achievement considering that John only took up the sport in January when visiting friends in Cork. John beat off competition from Dublin, Galway, Cork, Wexford and even Scotland. This win was John’s first ever sporting achievement, hopefully the first of many.