Peter Hughes
• Staff and service users of disability facility
forced to clean up public drinking detritus
Service users of a disability facility in Monaghan Town and health service staff were being compelled to clean up the detritus of public drinking and other anti-social behaviour activities taking place near their premises (material that included human waste and used condoms) on a regular basis, Monday’s meeting of the Monaghan Municipal District was informed. “This means our own staff and clients with disabilities cleaning up after young able people – this can happen two or three times a week,” Eamonn Brummitt, one of the users of the Misé disability support group service located at the Diamond Centre in Monaghan, stated in the course of a presentation which had as its primary focus the theme of the recent Make Way Day initiative in the town in highlighting the physical impediments and obstacles encountered by wheelchair users, the elderly and pram users on the streets of the town.
“We are sick of ringing the Gardaí – we ring the Gardaí on a constant basis,” Misé support worker Barry Deeney commented in relation to the anti-social behaviour issues. “People will be sitting up on the walls with six-packs partying – the Gardaí come and move them along but they sometimes return. On any day of any week of any part of the year you will see people on the nearby steps engaged in this behaviour.” Municipal District Cathaoirleach Seán Conlon (Sinn Féin) welcomed the representatives of the Misé support group for people with physical and intellectual disabilities, which was an advocacy group which operated under the umbrella of the HSE.
Councillor Conlon said that staff member Barry Deeney and service user Eamonn Brummitt had contacted him in recent weeks to convey their interest in making a presentation to the meeting around issues relating to accessibility, which was an issue impacting a number of their citizens young and old – such as parents with prams, elderly citizens and most notably wheelchair users. The Cathaoirleach referred to the ongoing abuse of parking spaces reserved for wheelchair users, describing this as a culture which had to be overcome in their society. Thanking the Cathaoirleach and his fellow elected members for the invitation to attend the meeting, Mr Brummitt said he attended the Misé disability service….
