Sandwich boards, cars parked on pavements and unattended ladders are streetscape features set to fade into history when Limerick Corporation's new strategy for people with disabilities is implemented. Limerick has joined Dublin, Wexford, Sligo and Drogheda in becoming a signatory to the Barcelona Declaration on "The City and the Disabled".
The declaration, drawn up in 1995 by a coalition of regional and local authorities in Catalonia, Spain, recognises the city as a form of "social organisation" which must promote the well-being and participation of its inhabitants.
Services and structures can be designed for use by everyone, "making unnecessary, in most cases, the existence of specific elements for disabled persons". Medically, disabilities can range from being wheelchair-bound to being visually impaired. But disability can also include those with learning or emotional difficulties. In a social context, a person is deemed disabled when excluded because of a disability.
Mr Cearbhall O Meadhra, chairman of the Institute for Design and Disability, says cities and towns can be designed so that, socially, nobody is disabled. "Our slogan is that good design enables, bad design disables."
As a blind person, he is well aware of the discomfort of bumping into wing mirrors of cars parked on pavements, the danger of crashing into sandwich boards or unattended ladders and the nuisance of walking on dog droppings and other rubbish. For wheelchair users, rubbish is picked up on their wheels, unannounced and illegal pavement impediments restrict mobility, and kerbs with no "dishings" restrict access to and from roads. Mr O Meadhra says the declaration sets out the agenda for disabled people's needs, focusing on social inclusion and self-advocacy.
"The key to an awareness programme is the amount of facilities we give to people with a disability to stand up and tell us what the problem is," he says.
Low-floor buses and taxis enable those with mobility difficulties to move around. "It is all to do with management and maintenance of priorities. Almost every single problem can be solved. That is why designers make money.
"The Barcelona Declaration is a principled undertaking that the city has adopted. To implement it will require a lot of action."
The declaration has 17 articles committing signatories to promote awareness of disabled people, ensure access to cultural, sporting and recreational activities, and adopt measures to allow free mobility for them. At a seminar on the subject in Limerick on Thursday, Prof Billy McAlister, of the Centre for Universal Accessibility at the University of Ulster, said 70 per cent of people are impaired or encumbered at any one time.
These include mothers with babies and buggies, elderly people, and young children. "There is the big hidden agenda in there. People do not want to be classed as disabled even though they have had a quadruple bypass.
"As far as we are concerned, the designer has a duty of care." The deputy mayor of Limerick, Mr John Ryan, said it was difficult to reconcile social inclusion with physical inaccessibility.
He pointed out that 78 per cent of Limerick buildings were inaccessible to the disabled. "We need to wake up to the fact that we are not doing our job properly on behalf of a large section of our community."
Ms Noreen Mullany, chairwoman of the Limerick Access Group, said common problems experienced by people with mobility or sight impairments were pubs putting tables and chairs on pavements and scaffolding suddenly appearing "as part of the booming economy. People are more impaired because of this.
Limerick Corporation's buildings control officer, Mr Michael MacNamara, is secretary of the Institute for Design and Disability. He said one of the main reasons for building regulations was to provide for the needs of the disabled. "Local authorities can step in and do the work and recover costs in the District Court," he said.