Wheelchair user who campaigned for disabled facilities at Wexford beach unable to access them due to parked cars

By Simon Bourke, Wexford People

Having successfully campaigned to have a wheelchair access point installed at Ballymoney Beach, Matthew McGrath envisaged a future where he could visit the amenity at his leisure.

Thanks to his activism, a disabled toilet was installed, disability parking was improved and a beach wheelchair was made available for those who wanted to join their family and friends on the beach.

However, in order to avail of these facilities, wheelchair users like Matthew need to first be able to drive down the road leading to Ballymoney Beach, a task which has become practically impossible during the peak summer months.

At the July meeting of the Gorey Kilmuckridge Municipal District (GKMD) Councillor Nicky Boland raised this issue on Matthew’s behalf.

“Matthew spent a lot of time trying to get a wheelchair accessible ramp at Ballymoney, but he’s now finding it virtually impossible to get down there because of all the cars parked on the road there,” said Cllr Boland.

The van which Matthew travels in is unable to negotiate the narrow road down to the beach during the peak summer months due to the number of cars parked on the roadside. As a result, his carers must park at the very top of the road and carefully wheel Matthew down to the beach, avoiding parked cars and traffic on the way.

Although, engineer Enda Brennan pointed out that there are two disabled parking bays at Ballymoney Beach, Cllr Boland said it was impossible to get to them on busy days.

Of equal concern is the lack of access for emergency vehicles.

“If someone has a heart attack that’s it, they’re gone,” said Cllr Anthony Donohue. “If you can’t get a van down there you’re not going to be able to get an ambulance down there.”

Matthew McGrath, disability activist with Council officials and locals at the opening of the new path leading to Ballymoney North Strand in 2024.

With Cllr Boland stressing that this was only an issue during the fine weather and requesting that the council introduce measures to enable wheelchair users to safely make their way down to the beach in the summer, Mr Brennan said he would look into the problem and return with further details at a future meeting.

During his campaign to have the wheelchair facilities installed at Ballymoney, Matthew said, “It is a really important issue and it affects a lot of people. We need more access to our local beaches. I go to Ballymoney every weekend so I should be able to get onto the beach here like everyone else.”