Make Way Day: ‘Just give it a little thought’

Síofra Grant

In the atrium of the Mullingar Civic offices Anne Myler and Aleysha Hennessy stand side by side with signs saying ‘Make Way Day’ in English and Irish. They are preparing to head into town alongside their colleagues and friends and attempt to highlight how obstructions can hinder transportation for those with additional needs.

As they walk, they are planning to take pictures of any obstruction they find and using them to raise awareness of the everyday hazards that exist for people with disabilities.

“It’s really just an awareness campaign around how we can block foot paths with our own behaviour and not realise the impact that can have on people who are wheeling, whether it’s a person with a disability or even a mother with a pram,” said Anne.

“Some of the biggest issues are people parking on footpaths, people placing bins or bicycles on footpaths.

“And also retailers placing signage or chalkboards or anything out on the footpaths that blocks the footpath and forces the person who’s wheeling down to the street or the road, which is not safe for them.

“It’s really just an awareness campaign to try and encourage people to make them see that their behaviour has such a big impact on your life.”

Joining Anne and Aleysha was Independent People with Disabilities chairperson, Mark Ahern. Mark is a wheelchair user and knows well how much an obstruction to a path can affect him.

“I think some of the major problems are people parking on the footpaths around the town and the suburbs of the town. Other hazards are shops putting signs and other things in a hazardous way – not just for people in wheelchairs, but also for those who are visually impaired.

“Today, IPWD (Independent people with Disabilities) is happy to be associated with this event to raise awareness and hopefully improve the lives of people with disabilities.”

Mark explained that hazards can make you think about things that those without disabilities never have to.

“Some of the problems are, if you’re going along a certain route and it gets blocked, especially if it’s a footpath in a key area, you might actually have to turn around and go back. It can add up to 20 minutes to your journey or maybe you might not make the journey at all.

“So it can be very serious.”

Mark explains that if people just took a minute to be more aware of how their surroundings may be an obstruction to others it could make it a lot easier for those using wheelchairs, who are blind, or even pushing prams.

“I think that just to spend some time when they are parking to think about if they are leaving enough space – are they putting things in other people’s way?

“Just give it a little thought now and again, I think that would really make a huge difference.”