High standard of wheelchair services in Tipperary recognised with civic honour

A civic reception to honour, acknowledge and pay tribute to the Irish Wheelchair Association (IWA) South Tipperary Services took place at the Cashel Tipperary Municipal Council Offices.

Then Cathaoirleach Cllr. Michael Fitzgerald nominated the IWA South Tipperary group and was backed unanimously by the councillors.

“A civic reception is the highest honour that we can bestow on any group or individual and it recognises the contribution that your organisation has made to the lives of people who are wheelchair bound in our society.

Today also gives us an opportunity to acknowledge the improvements that have taken place and to highlight to the newly elected council  that much more work needs to be done to improve the quality of daily life for people who use the same facilities as all of us every day of our lives,” said Cathaoirleach Cllr. Michael Fitzgerald. “More work needs to be done to create awareness of dog fouling, parking on the kerb and other issues that impact wheelchair users in a negative way.

The council were delighted to help in the recent ‘Back in 5’ campaign working alongside the Tipperary IWA, Anne Bradshaw from Tipperary Goldstar, An Garda Siochana and the TIRD, Chamber of Commerce. All our services like the library, public toilets and restaurants must become more accessible to all users.” he said

IWA Service Coordinator Josephine Carroll for South Tipperary Services spoke with pride whilst accepting the certificate of the civic reception on behalf of the IWA staff, volunteers and service users.

“It was an honour and a privilege for the Irish Wheelchair Association (IWA) Tipperary to receive a civic reception from the Cashel/Tipperary Municipal District County Council in recognition of our contribution to the people of the district. The management and staff are very proud to be accorded this award.

 In the IWA the staff work very hard to ensure that our service users receive the best service possible and that their independence, choices and preferences are promoted at all times. We operate a continuous improvement cycle to ensure that our service is operating to the best it can be.

In Tipperary, we have a team of 17 staff currently working in our services, including an excellent Community Employment Scheme. For the staff on the ground it is fantastic to see their dedication and commitment to their roles being acknowledged.” said Josephine.

Each councillor acknowledged the wonderful work done on a daily basis by the IWA South Tipperary .

  IWA CEO Rosemary Keogh was also present and TD Mattie McGrath reiterated that he will lobby and demand funding for the IWA Tipperary.Liam Saunders, IWA Area Manager South was in attendance also

With a look to the future and further awareness campaigns Josephine Carroll spoke about their upcoming plans.  “We have had very positive engagement with the Tipperary County Council in numerous campaigns, in particular our Back in 5 Campaign in May in collaboration with the HSE Gold Star which highlighted the abuse of disabled parking bays in Tipperary Town.

We will be carryout out another ‘Back in 5’ campaign in Cahir on Friday, June 7.  We also look forward to rolling out the Operation Enable Campaign as a multi-agency initiative with Tipperary County Council and An Gardai Siochana later on this year.

The campaign objective is to remind motorists to respect the disabled accessible parking bays in Tipperary Town and to prompt disabled permit holders to respect the conditions attached to the permits.

The Civic Reception acknowledging the work of the IWA Tipperary is a great boost to both our staff and service users and we were delighted that a large crowd was in attendance to witness this honour and we are very grateful to all in Tipperary County Council.”