19/11/2019

Archived item. This item is published here for historical reasons. The information below may be out of date.

Mayor of South Dublin County Council, Councillor Vicki Casserly will officially open National Accessibility Week 2019 in the Foyer of TU Dublin Tallaght Campus at 11.00am on Monday 25 November, along with Professor David Fitzpatrick, President of TU Dublin.

In April 2019, TU Dublin became the first Irish Higher Education Institute to receive a Recognition of Excellence trophy from the National Disability Authority in celebration of a decade-long collaboration with their founding Institutions, and their commitment to the application of Universal Design. National Accessibility Week 2019 is being launched in TU Dublin Tallaght Campus to highlight, and celebrate, the increased access that is now available on campus for disabled students.

Mayor Casserly said “Universal access is essential for the continued growth and sustainability of vibrant communities. South Dublin County Council is strongly committed to equality, inclusion and providing facilities and services that are accessible to all. I would encourage everyone to get involved in the planned activities and to help make National Accessibility Week 2019 in our County a success.”

Selina Bonnie, Disability Liaison, Access and Equality Officer, at South Dublin County Council said “Disabled people have a wide variety of accessibility requirements in order to be able to participate fully in our communities. Through this Weeks programme of events we will be providing examples of how these accessibility requirements can be met”.

South Dublin County Council, in partnership with organisations across the County, has developed a diverse programme of events for National Accessibility Week including accessible ice skating, assisted climbing, a seminar on Inclusive Playspaces and ISL Interpreted tours of key South Dublin heritage sites. Libraries across the County will also be participating in a variety of ways including providing sensory friendly library times and reading books that have accessibility themes during children’s story times.

National Accessibility Week 2019 will take place from Monday, 25 November. The week-long campaign will coincide with International Day of Disabled Persons which occurs each year on the 3rd December.

National Accessibility Week (led by local authorities across the country), is an important opportunity to encourage all people to focus on issues of accessibility and universal design. The Week provides Councils, businesses, schools and colleges, community groups and so on with a valuable opportunity to highlight the accessibility of their facilities and services. A range of events will take place, and social media will be used to encourage wider society to be more inclusive of the varied accesses needs of disabled people of all ages.

Inclusive Playspaces seminarEventbrite address: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/inclusive-playspaces-seminar-tickets-81339391309

Assisted Climbing sessionsEventbrite address:https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/national-accessibility-week-climbing-for-all-tickets-81551880871?aff=ebdssbdestsearch

For further information on the launch of National Accessibility Week and other events taking place during National Accessibility Week, please contact Selina Bonnie, Disability Liaison, Access and Equality Officer, at South Dublin County Council at 01 414 9041 or sbonnie@sdublincoco.ie

Ends

South Dublin County is one of four local authority areas in the Dublin region.

South Dublin County Council provides and funds a broad range of services including housing, roads, walking and cycling routes, parks and playgrounds, libraries, sports facilities, litter control, arts centres, enterprise units, fire services, community infrastructure and financial supports. It also serves as a platform for local democracy with 40 councillors spread across six electoral areas.

Bounded by the River Liffey to the North and the Dublin Mountains to the South, the County lies 16 kilometres south west of Dublin city centre and has an administrative footprint of 223sq. kilometres. The County has nine main villages Clondalkin, Lucan, Palmerstown, Rathfarnham, Tallaght, Templeogue, Saggart, Rathcoole and Newcastle and is bounded by adjoining counties of Wicklow, Kildare, Dublin City, Fingal and Dun Laoghaire.

Images

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  National Accessibility Week Poster 2019