Cork paralympian's family criticise lack of disability access to event planned in her honour
Kay McShane was a tireless campaigner for disability issues.
The family of a pioneering paralympian has threatened to withdraw its support for an exhibition in her honour on Spike Island because it won't be accessible to wheelchair users.
The family of the late Cork woman Kay McShane said she fought against such discrimination all her life and any exhibition honouring her remarkable sporting achievements must be accessible to all.
One of her sisters, Anne, said the family is extremely proud of Kay's record in sport and of her fight for equality of access, especially for wheelchair users.
“Obviously, we would like to see this exhibition happen but we know that if Kay was alive, she would insist it was accessible to all,” Anne said.
“We are very disappointed that the Spike Island Development Company (SIDC) doesn’t see this as a priority and hasn’t given a commitment to make it accessible.”
Ms McShane spoke out after Cork TD Mick Barry raised Spike Island’s accessibility issues in the Dáil.
He described the situation as a “sorry state of affairs” and urged Taoiseach Leo Varadkar to intervene to ensure that "a heroine of Irish sport" can be honoured.
“The bus from the island’s ferry dock to the exhibition centre way up on a hill is not wheelchair accessible,” he said. “It would cost a mere €8,500 to make it so but the county council-owned development company say they can’t afford to do so.”
Mr Varadkar said his office would examine the issue.
Kay McShane was born in Fermoy in 1949. Her father was in the army and she was raised on Spike Island with her five sisters and a brother.
A childhood bout of polio left her in a wheelchair but she went on to become a major sports star and a tireless advocate for disability rights.
Kay was one of the first wheelchair athletes to join Leevale Athletic Club, and her record of three consecutive wins in the 1984 to 1986 London Marathon women's wheelchair race remained unequalled for nearly 20 years.
She won a silver medal in the marathon at the 1984 summer Paralympics in London, and two bronze medals, in the marathon and 800m, at the 1988 Paralympics in Seoul.
She spent her life campaigning for the rights of people with disabilities through her work with the Blanchardstown Centre of Independent Living, and died in December 2019, aged 70.
SIDC, which manages the Spike Island visitor attraction which opened in Cork Harbour in 2016, approached Kay’s family in 2020 with a proposal to host an exhibition honouring her life and sporting achievements.
The family provided a vast amount of memorabilia and in June 2021, Anne, and her sister, Mary, accompanied Kay’s husband, Michael, a wheelchair user, on a visit to Spike with his grandson, 20, to discuss the details.
But Anne said Michael had physical difficulties getting on and off the ferry, even with the assistance of his grandson, and the most serious problem was that the bus on the island was not wheelchair accessible.
The family stressed to SIDC that an accessible bus had to be a priority, and they commissioned an independent engineering assessment which recommended the immediate provision of accessible transport from the island’s ferry landing to the main visitor areas.
“All other changes to the centre are meaningless if it is not possible for people to make their way from the ferry to the fort,” the report said.
But in recent correspondence, SIDC said 2022 was a challenging year, finances are tight and no commitments to any upgrades can be given.
It said it has strived to make the site as wheelchair friendly as possible, that 10 out of the 12 exhibition spaces are accessible and there is a paved walkway from the pier to the fort and around the inner fortress itself.
But Anne said any proposed exhibition would not be accessible to Kay’s husband, and to the very many disabled people in Ireland who want to be allowed to participate fully in the social and cultural life of our community.
“In the circumstances we cannot agree to an exhibition without access from the pier to the fort,” she said.
“This is about us trying to ensure that Kay’s struggle for equality and her achievements actually mean something in practice when remembering her life.”
SIDC has been asked to comment and a response is awaited.
