Clare community comes together for Make Way Day
Make Way Day returns to County Clare this year this Friday, September 22.
The campaign brings the disability and wider community together to consider the needs of people with disabilities in the public spaces we all share.
People with disabilities will be out and about across County Clare and the rest of Ireland on September 22 with disability groups and local organisations to highlight obstacles.
Such obstacles include cars or vans parked on a footpath blocking the way, bicycles chained to lamp posts creating a trip hazard for a visually impaired person and illegally placed sandwich boards, forgotten bins, barrels and other obstructions.
Cathaoirleach of Clare County Council, Cllr Joe Cooney, said: “Clare County Council is delighted to work with the Disability Federation of Ireland and local advocates in supporting Make Way Day in County Clare again this year. This is a really important campaign that highlights the many types of obstacles that stop people with disabilities in their tracks, such as cars parked on footpaths, badly parked bicycles and bins left on footpaths. Many people are unaware of the problems this behaviour causes and Make Way Day is a friendly reminder to encourage people to change.”
In support of Make Way Day, Clare County Council volunteers are participating in a Junior Achievement Ireland (JAI) programme, ‘The Power of Design’.
This programme is delivered to fifth and sixth-class students in participating primary schools in Clare.
Students will have the opportunity to learn about the value of design in everyday life. The Power of Design uses a learning-by-doing methodology to demonstrate to students the positive impact of design on social, cultural and economic life.
Make Way Day is led by the Disability Federation of Ireland (DFI) and is a unique collaboration across Ireland and the voluntary and local government sectors. But most of all it’s about people with disabilities.
According to the DFI, Make Way Day is not about pointing the finger at local authorities, other agencies, or randomly scattered activism.
The whole point of the day is making the public aware of an issue that is fully within their power to change.
It’s about one impactful, coordinated and decisive day of action.
So, on Friday, September 22, obstacles that block the way and complicate the lives of people with disabilities 365 days of the year are highlighted.
For more information and to find out how you can get involved in Make Way Day, visit HERE.