TOP PRIZE Pictured is Danuta Gray, Chief Executive of O2; President Mary McAleese; Aisling Foundation founder and creator of the O2 Ability Awards, Caroline Casey, Terry Fahy, General Manager of Access Ability, and Mayo County Council Cathaoirleach, Cllr Gerry Coyle, at the presentation of the O2 Ability Awards.
County Council honoured
Olof Gill
Mayo County Council has achieved the remarkable feat of being officially recognised as Ireland’s hardest-working public body in the field of integrating people with disabilities into the workforce. In winning the O2 award for public bodies, the Council saw off stiff competition from the county councils of Cavan and Kilkenny, the Department of Finance, HSE West and Galway City Council, to name but a few. This was nothing less than the greatest accolade awarded to any public body in the west of Ireland in recent times, and is an extraordinary testament to the progressive, innovative work being carried out in Áras an Chontae and around the county.
A beaming Cathaoirleach, Cllr Gerry Coyle accepted the O2 award on behalf of the Council. The award recognises Mayo County Council’s achievements in making Council services accessible to persons with disabilities and in its employment policies. Speaking to The Mayo News, Joe Loftus, the Council’s Director of Services, praised the ‘Trojan work’ of everyone concerned, noting that ‘credit must go to all our staff across all levels’.
“Our aim is not just to be good at promoting disabled access and services, but to be the best we can be. We realised that in order to make real progress, we had to step out of the boat and get our feet wet,” he explained.
So how did they do it? Implementing what Joe Loftus refers to as an ‘integrated approach’, the Council first of all sought to improve accessibility – ‘starting at home’ with Áras an Chontae. This is an ongoing process, with the ultimate aim of the building being completely wheelchair and disability accessible.
A further innovative measure was website accessibility. For example, sections of the Council website contain audio clips aimed at the blind, while Optical Character Recognition (OCR) is available in the county libraries.
Most importantly, perhaps, the Council has been commendably proactive in hiring disabled employees. Currently, at least six per cent of Council workers are disabled, while the percentage of disabled frontline staff (ie those dealing with the public) is much higher.
Paul O’Shea of Kiltimagh is one of the employees who benefited from the Council’s progressive policies. A Council employee for over 20 years, Paul lost sight in one eye in an accident six years ago. Displaying the kind of foresight and effort that has characterised the accessibility campaign, the Council provided him with the necessary facilities and training to take up a role doing administrative work for the fire service.
“They were always very supportive of me,” says Paul. Using state-of-the-art software – Zoomtext technology – that allows him to instantly increase the size of the documents or files he is working with in order to read them, Paul is able to carry out all the necessary administrative duties required for his job.
He has nothing but praise for the Council’s sterling work and was delighted to hear of the O2 award. “It was great to get it,” he says, “really excellent.” In his view, the Council’s greatest success has been in ‘providing’ for disabled employees and customers, and in ‘focusing people’s minds on what can be done’.
He is quick to add, however, that the Council’s drive to improve accessibility is a continuous process. “These are ongoing changes,” he explains, “and there’s still a lot more to do.”
