Make Way Day in Sligo highlights how parking on a footpath can have far-reaching consequences

By Philip Rooney, The Sligo Champion

Staff and users of the Sligo Centre For Independent Living joined with the Mayor of the Borough District of Sligo, Cllr Gino O’Boyle and other elected representatives on Friday last to mark Make Way Day.

Make Way Day is a campaign aimed at raising awareness about the challenges faced by people with disabilities in public spaces.

“Access is the most basic of all disability rights,” Cllr Gino O’Boyle told The Sligo Champion. “The public footpaths are for everyone and we are all entitled to share them equally and safely. However, for those with a disability, or who are infirm or visually impaired, a billboard or a badly parked vehicle can create a significant barrier.

“Disability organisations say that thoughtlessness and genuine lack of awareness is behind most instances like those I have referred to.

“The Council is pleased to be associated with Make Way Day. This is just one positive step at local level towards a more inclusive society where barriers are gone and where people with disabilities can live their lives to the fullest. On a wider basis there still remains a lot to be done to implement the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and this will remain a focus for disability activists and for public representatives,” the Mayor said.

Cllr Arthur Gibbons, who is a Board member of the Sligo Centre for Independent Living said the obstacles that create difficulties for people with disabilities include badly parked vehicles and bicycles, wheelie bins left on footpaths and over-grown hedges.

“If we can help raise awareness of the need to remove physical barriers to participation, we are demonstrating our commitment to creating a more equal society for people with disabilities,” he said.