ONE LAHINCH wheelchair user is “living as a prisoner in his home,” an elected representative has claimed.
At a recent sitting of the West Clare Municipal District, Cllr Shane Talty (FF) proposed that either dished kerbing or ramps be installed along the footpaths serving the front row of houses in the Council’s owned housing estate on Station Rd in Lahinch.
Talty explained, “these houses are designated for older people and currently among the residents, there is a wheelchair user and a mobility aid user”.
Dropped kerbs would be required in this particular setting for numerous entrances, senior executive engineer, Enda MacNamara outlined. “These works will be added to the schedule of works for 2022 and will be completed later this year subject to funding being available for footpath works”.
Speaking at the meeting, Cllr Talty commented, “there is a wheelchair user living as a prisoner in his own home because he can’t go past the front gate”. He added, “it is a relatively inexpensive piece of work that needs to be done but it would be transformative for the residents”.
Similar issues are cropping up in Kilkee estates, Cllr Cillian Murphy (FF) flagged. “We’ve local authority owned estates that are fifty to sixty years old and they do need to have works done to have them brought up to normal standard”.
Led by MacNamara, the Council has developed a “good record of remediation with wheelchair users,” Cllr Joe Killeen (FF) maintained.
