This article is from page 16 of the 2012-04-17 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 16 JPG
AN Ennis woman has started a petition to have the disabled toilet in Dunnes Stores strictly reserved for disabled users. Siobhan McMahon’s campaign has so far attracted almost 250 signatories.
Siobhan, who suffers from cerebral palsy, has been a wheelchair-user since childhood. She was moved to start the campaign after becoming “frustrated” with the number of non-disabled people using the toilets in Dunnes. She explained, “I just wanted to do something because I was getting really sick of it. You have teenagers in there doing their make-up. I can’t tell you the amount of times I have found beer cans in there. Back before the smoking ban, the smell of smoke in there used to be disgusting.”
Siobhan said people give out while she is waiting to use the toilet because her chair blocks the door.
She added, “I just got a new powerchair and that barely fits in. Then you have people banging on the door and interrupting you. My two-and-a-halfyear-old son knows the word ‘wheelchair’ from me telling people that a wheelchair-user is in the toilet.”
Siobhan wants keys provided to regular users of the facility in Dunnes, while other people should have to get a key from security personnel.
She said the problem affects other wheelchair-users in Ennis. Siobhan added, “A lot of my friends wouldn’t have great speech so they don’t feel confident enough to speak out.”
Siobhan has handed petitions into local businesses and says so far she has had a fantastic response from the community. She said it is also “very difficult” to get around the streets of Ennis because of the narrow footpaths. Dunnes Stores last night declined to comment on the petition.