Efforts to make Galway’s beaches accessible for disabled users have changed tack – the City Council has sidelined last year’s mats solution and now plans to buy wheelchairs with balloon wheels instead.

The local authority has also confirmed to Galway City Tribune that it expects the new ‘Changing Places’ facility in Salthill to be opened by the end of August, over a year after it was substantially completed.

It comes after advocates for people with disabilities complained that another summer was almost over, and the city’s beaches remain out-of-bounds for most wheelchair users.

This is despite the Council buying beach mats to allow access for people in wheelchairs and mobility scooters. But they have not been deployed this summer – and are in storage at Leisureland.

“Buildings are one thing, but imagine not ever being able to go to the beach? It’s unconscionable that Galway beaches are inaccessible to people in wheelchairs when we have the equipment to make it possible. The city should be making it easier, not harder, for disabled people, for whom just getting up out of bed can be a triumph,” said a spokesperson for Access for All.
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