*Padraic Hayes at home in Shannon. Photograph: Joe Buckley
PUBLIC TRANSPORT is hindering persons with disabilities from employment opportunities, a Shannon based activist has claimed.
Padraic Hayes was among the speakers for National Sharing Day hosted by the National Disabilities Quality Improvement Office focusing on Article 19 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), the Right to Independent Living. The thirty eight year old has cerebral palsy and is a former Chairman of the Clare Leader Forum.
During his presentation, Padraic spoke of the challenges for disabled people in accessing public transport and the impact this has on their lives. The National Transport Authority (NTA) aspires to make bus and rail services available to all communities, “the reality is very different,” he said.
Speaking to The Clare Echo, the Shannon man highlighted difficulties he has experienced with both Bus Éireann and Local Link. The 343 Bus Éireann service from Ennis to Limerick “is not accessible for wheelchair users but bus stops have been adapted for wheelchair users while the bus service remains non-accessible, I thought myself this was very silly to get the bus stops accessible and not have the transport provided”.
A spokesperson for Bus Éireann said it “makes every effort to provide accessible public transport to individuals and communities across Ireland”. The spokesperson said it provides a wheelchair accessible service on the 343 route but 24 hours prior notice must be given as not all vehicles can facilitate the request. Bus fleets on city and town services “are 100 percent wheelchair accessible”.
“During 2022 additional low floor vehicles will be allocated to the Bus Éireann fleet and it is envisaged that all PSO routes in County Clare will be converted to a low floor operation during the year. Bus Éireann remains committed to the provision of a fully accessible public transport system incorporating fully accessible vehicles and infrastructure,” the spokesperson outlined.
Regarding Local Link’s C4 service from Ennis to Shannon via Newmarket-on-Fergus, Padraic said it operated under “very restrictive hours” with pre-booking required and just one wheelchair spot. He stated, “People with disabilities cannot have a social life or cannot look for a job or employment because these hours are so restrictive, it has no evening or weekend services, it also has no inter-linking with no opportunity to go from Limerick from Shannon”.
Manager of TFI Local Link Limerick & Clare, Anne Gaughan said the C4 service begins in Ennis at 08:20 and concludes 16:50. “All route times differ. For example our R337 service begins at 6:45am and ends at 20:05. Every route has different levels of demand and caters for different needs be it commuters, day care centre service users, school students,” she stated.
Public consultation is underway on the Connecting Ireland Rural Mobility Plan, she noted. “Its local route proposals mentioned Shannon in the context of a new route from Shannon to Limerick via Sixmilebridge, replacing a variant of route 343 with a minimum service of three return trips per day. The consultation gave members of the public the opportunity to give feedback on proposals and make constructive suggestions to guide the proposed routes”.
She stressed that Local Link was “always open to hearing the needs of our passengers and prospective passengers. To date we have not received any requests for a change to our C4 timetable. I would encourage anyone who has an unmet transport need to contact us as soon as possible as this feeds directly into future route development plans”.
For the past ten years, Padraic has been confined to a wheelchair as his condition has deteriorated, he has had a wheelchair all of his life. He has written to the NTA and received commitments that a wheelchair accessible bus would be in the Shannon area but their correspondence has not been date specific.
During the last decade as his condition worsened, Padraic’s mother Theresa passed away, she had assisted in transporting him to wherever he needed to go. “Bus services should be available daily including evenings and weekends, disabled people have the right to a social life, be able to work and have the same equal opportunities as everyone else”.
“No one really knows what it is like unless you are in the person’s shoes, it won’t dawn on you unless you’ve direct experience of it,” Hayes told The Clare Echo.
A masters graduate of TUS, Padraic is currently a social inclusion representative on Clare County Council’s Physical Development Strategic Policy Committee (SPC). He is due to start a new job with Shannon-based Cregg Medical in January, initially this will be remotely, access to public transport was of no benefit when securing this post, he flagged.
