Sharon wants to see action flow from Make Way Day

A wheelchair user in Mullingar supports Make Way Day, an annual awareness raising event, but laments than little changes from one year to the next, despite the publicity.

Sharon Dunleavy was present at the County Buildings in Mullingar for the launch of this year’s Make Way Day on Friday September 22, and speaking afterwards to the Westmeath Examiner she said making her way around the town isn’t easy.

“The paths are uneven, there’s bits of the ground lifted, even parking spaces are scarce, there’s one outside the post office, but it’s chaotic… it’s just everything.

“But my annoyance is that this happens every year but I’ve seen no change, so is this just for a photo, or is change going to happen?”

Asked who she thinks should be responsible for change, Sharon said, “everybody – but if you’re looking for voices, then let’s see change. They’re not huge things, just paths to be right, it’s not major. Surely by now, there should be change. Talk is cheap, let’s do something.”

Cllr John Shaw, cathaoirleach of the Municipal District of Mullingar Kinnegad, who was also present for the Make Way Day event, acknowledged that more can be done, but he said a large amount of money, some €3m, has been spent in Mullingar in recent years with the town redevelopment. Asked to respond to Sharon’s views, he told the Examiner: “The infrastructure in towns in general [needs work] – sometimes the footpaths are not wide enough, the carriages are not wide enough. I’m disappointed that more improvements haven’t been made. Certainly, there have been some in general, but we’re a long way away from getting everything right and I think everyone has to acknowledge and accept that, and things certainly have to improve.”

Cllr Shaw said county councillors regularly ask for such improvements at council meetings. He says work is done, including in housing estates, but “there could be better engagement with the engineering staff and the likes of the Irish Wheelchair Association and the National Council for the Blind, as there are different opinions on how paths are finished, in terms of steps and other matters. There’s a lot of work to be done, at national level and at local level as well.”

In a statement, Westmeath County Council, in conjunction with Westmeath Disability working group members, said they were delighted to be take part in the National Make Way Day 2023 Campaign.

It is a campaign that brings the disability and wider community together to consider the needs of people with disabilities in public spaces, the council statement explained.

It is led by the Disability Federation of Ireland and is a collaboration across the country and the voluntary and local government sectors.

Leading the charge are people with disabilities, Westmeath County Council, Westmeath Community Development, Independent People with Disabilities, Athlone Access Awareness, Irish Wheelchair Association, Mental Health Mullingar, Airc Midlands and the local gardaí.

The organisations, using an online tool designed for Make Way Day, to highlight obstacles that block the way and complicate the lives of people with disabilities.

‘Hey, this blocks my way!’ is the message.

This year, the areas targeted in Westmeath were Mullingar, Athlone, Kilbeggan, Rochfortbridge and Moate.

Last year, the campaign reached more than 1,000,000 people on social media and featured on RTÉ news bulletins on the day, according to the county council.