Disability campaigners press Kildare County Council for Access and Inclusion Officer
Ten separate county councils have already passed motions supporting the call
Disability campaigners are putting further pressure on Kildare County Council (KCC) to appoint an Access and Inclusion Officer.
The call, which was made by the Irish Wheelchair Association (IWA), comes after it announced the 2026 iteration of its awareness campaign 'Access - It’s No Joke' back in March.
It also comes just before Make Way Day 2026, which takes place on Friday, May 29, 2026.
The IWA’s campaign highlighted that 81 per cent of local authorities do not have a dedicated Access and Inclusion Officer appointed to make public services and amenities more accessible.
According to the IWA, Kildare county councillors are among representatives from 23 out of 25 county councils, that have reached out to the IWA in order to support the organisation’s call.
In the context of County Kildare, one such local representative, Fine Gael Cllr Peggy O’Dwyer, submitted a motion earlier this year calling for KCC to appoint an Access and Inclusion Officer.
Her motion was seconded by her party colleague, Cllr Tracey O’Dwyer.
GRATITUDE
Rosaleen Lally, the IWAs’ national access programme manager, said that the organisation ‘has been very encouraged by the support’ it has received from individual local councillors in Kildare.
“We know that people with disabilities cannot use many public buildings, paths, pedestrian crossings, bus stops, train stations, parks and beaches etc. in our communities across Ireland,” Ms Lally added. “Every local authority in Ireland should have a dedicated Access and Inclusion Officer in their organisation to focus on solving some of these problems.”
She also noted that 23 local authorities have already expressed support for the IWAS’s campaign ‘and have committed to bring the motion to their next council meeting’.
SUPPORT
Furthermore, the IWA has pointed out that county councils in ten separate counties have already passed the motion to support the campaign: Waterford, Sligo, Longford, Mayo, Kerry, Kilkenny, Carlow, Cavan, Galway, and Tipperary.
The IWA also said that it is hoped that Cork County Council will this list in the coming weeks.
Moreover, the IWA noted that, earlier this month, Louth County Council appointed its first Access and Inclusion Officer, becoming one of only four counties in Ireland that has a dedicated Access and Inclusion Officer position in its local authority, alongside Westmeath, Wexford and Dublin local authorities.
“It's really encouraging to see what we can achieve for people with disabilities in our community when we work together and we are hopeful for progress in Kildare in the coming weeks,” Ms Lally added.
Anyone seeking further information about this campaign can visit www.iwa.ie/accessnojoke.
Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme