Accessible transport on Spike Island 'an immediate priority' if exhibition is to go ahead

The family of a pioneering paralympian has threatened to withdraw support for exhibition in her honour on Spike Island as it won't be accessible to wheelchair users

Kay McShane was a tireless campaigner for disability issues.

Accessible transport from the Spike Island jetty to its visitor centre must be “an immediate priority”, an engineering expert has said.

It is one of several recommendations contained in a report prepared for the family of Paralympian and disability rights campaigner, Kay McShane, who it’s hoped will be honoured with an exhibition this summer on the island where she was raised.

However, the event is at risk because the minibus from the island jetty to the visitor centre is not wheelchair accessible. 

Her family said Kay, who died in 2019, aged 70, cannot be properly honoured if the exhibition is not completely accessible and they commissioned engineer, Kieran Spitere, to examine the island's access issues.

Report on access issues

He visited Spike last May with Kay’s sister, Anne McShane, and Gary Kearney, a disability rights advocate with the Disability Federation of Ireland, and prepared a detailed report which highlights access issues throughout the visitor journey, from the “daunting experience” faced by wheelchair users boarding the ferry, and especially the minibus.

“Currently portable ‘steps’ are necessary to allow even fully ambulant people enter this vehicle,” the report says.

“Accessible transport to the visitor centre must be an immediate priority. Any other comments in relation to the visitor centre and the ferry crossing are largely irrelevant if wheelchair users cannot get to the visitor centre from the ferry landing.

“Clearly there is no point in making, for example, the exhibition centre accessible if wheelchair users cannot get as far as the centre.” 

He listed priority action areas, including:

•  providing accessible transport from the ferry landing to the fort;
•  examine improvements that could be made to the ferry access, including more safety railings in places;
•  set aside space for a lift to the first floor of the large exhibition area;
•  make the external walks more user-friendly, by providing resting positions.

The report notes that the visitor centre includes some ancient or historic buildings and accepts that it would be impractical to demand that every area be made accessible, but it adds: “The fact that some very interesting areas of the overall visitor’s centre are likely to remain out of reach for those with mobility problems makes it even more important that all that can reasonably be done is done.” 

'Finances are tight'

The report also welcomes that there is an accessible toilet and a dedicated wheelchair space on the ferry.

In a statement, the board of SIDC said they are still assessing options around the possible upgrade of the island minibus.

“As the tourist season for 2022 was challenging regarding visitor numbers and with increased operating costs felt across the sector, finances are tight and no commitments to any upgrades can be given at this time,” they said.

The board also said it has strived to make the site as wheelchair friendly as possible since it opened in 2016.

But it said given that some structures are over 200 years old and because the entire island is listed as a national monument, some areas will remain untouched.

“Spike Island Development Company has added two wheelchair-accessible pontoons and added a larger ferry suitable for wheelchair users," they said.

"10 out of the 12 exhibition spaces on Spike Island are also wheelchair accessible and there is a paved wheelchair-friendly walkway from the pier up to the fortress and around the inner fortress itself.”