Wheelchair accessible toilet needed at Portrane Beach, says Johnston

Gary Ibbotson 20 Oct 2021

Corina Johnston, Labour Party Local Area Representative is calling on Fingal County Council to urgently install a temporary wheelchair accessible toilet at the Brook beach, Portrane.

In a statement, Johnston said that a recent incident further highlights the need for wheelchair accessible toilets in the area.

”Imagine for a moment you are out walking and realise you need to spend a penny. You come across a public toilet and avail of its facilities and then continue your walk in a contented frame of mind,” she said.

“Now imagine you are on the same journey but on this occasion you are a person in a wheelchair and urgently need to use the facilities of a public toilet.

“You arrive at the cubicle and realise that the door frame is not wide enough to allow access for your wheelchair.

“This is the actual position that Jack Tanner, a young man from the Burrow, Portrane who has additional needs, found himself in recently, when out with his personal assistant for recreation.

“In the lashing rain, the wheelchair became jarred within the door frame of the public toilets and his assistant had to haul himself over Jack and his chair to assist him. An absolutely shattering experience for this young person which does not send out a positive message for inclusiveness and equality for all,” she said.

Johnston said that this matter could have been avoided if the local authority had made the facilities accessible when they were being installed.

“This incident need not have happened if my concerns had been taken on board,” she said.

“I contacted Fingal County Council in January last when they were installing the replacement toilets and expressed my objection to its location and the lack of wheelchair and baby changing facilities within the cubicles.

“In February I posted that surely it was possible to hire or rent a more appropriate wheelchair accessible toilet for the Summer.

“The response from Fingal was that they had already provided a temporary toilet and were in the process of identifying a site for a permanent replacement.

“We have recently been informed that Portrane is in the second tranche of replacement public toilets to be installed with a projected date for the completion of the installation of the permanent toilets now 2024.

“This is not good enough,” Johnston said.

“While Fingal County Council have an excellent record in providing Disability Access and Equality Initiatives for people with additional needs throughout Fingal, on this occasion however they have failed.

“The Labour team of Duncan Smith TD, our councillors and I are now calling on Fingal County Council to install a temporary wheelchair accessible public toilet as a priority at the Brook beach Portrane, something similar to what was recently installed in Portmarnock and Sutton.

“We are also requesting that the CEO and the council’s Access Officer become personally involved in its provision.

“What happened to Jack Tanner should not be allowed happen again. “

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