The Gold Star project, a new initiative to improve levels of access and standard of service for people with disabilities, is being piloted in Cashel. Wheelchair user Kathleen Blake holidays there with GEMMA TIPTON
WE’RE ON top of the Rock of Cashel with the wind in our hair, marvelling at the view and trying to get a photograph that captures the cathedral and the countryside, but that doesn’t include lots of other tourists spoiling our snap. We go through a doorway, out of the wind and into the building itself to listen in on a guided tour, and then discuss where to go for coffee back in town. What’s so special about this is how normal it is: an unusual normality for my companion, Kathleen Blake, who, some years ago, following an illness, had both her legs amputated above the knee.
That ability to be spontaneous is part of any successful holiday, where you leave the organisation and responsibilities of your daily life behind and spend time following your inclinations, relaxing and enjoying yourself. But for the 10 per cent of our population (according to the CSO) who have a disability, that kind of spontaneity is often impossible. How can you just pop into a coffee shop or restaurant if you don’t know which, if any, are accessible? A new initiative, the Gold Star project, being piloted in Cashel, aims to change that – and ought to become standard across Ireland.
Working with local businesses, visitor attractions and the community, the Gold Star project raises awareness, levels of access and general standards of service for people with disabilities. In practice this means that Kathleen, her daughter Claire and I can go shopping, popping into the Kilkenny Design (handbags and wallets are purchased), browse in the Book Nook and Joan’s Fashions, before Kathleen stops at William Alexander’s hair salon for a do, and a makeover at nearby Beauty Secrets.
A brief rest at our B&B, Aulber House, to drop off shopping and change our clothes, and then we’re out to dinner for an Italian feast at Morelli. Kathleen drives, and en route tells me how unconsciously selfish many people are when it comes to parking: “Parking on pavements means I can’t get by in my chair, and often that means I have to go all the way back down the street to where the nearest dish is, and come back along the road itself. Or else you see people who don’t want to park in the disabled bay, so they park outside it, blocking the access anyway.”
Kathleen is passionate about issues of access and equality, and has been to the European Parliament to lobby for changes. “It’s hard to believe they put the parliament in Brussels – one of the most inaccessible places you could imagine,” she says. So where has she travelled that is better? “New York is great, and Paris – the banks of the Seine are wonderful, and the security guards in the Louvre couldn’t have been more helpful . . . or handsome,” she adds. Our conversation about handsome men continues in Morelli, where we try to decide who we would wait “all night outside in the rain” for the chance to see. A lively discussion concludes that there’s no accounting for taste.
Morelli is a genuine Italian restaurant with good hearty food. They also have a small private cinema, so families can send the kids off to be entertained while they enjoy their meal, but also means that parents of autistic children can arrange to go and see a film without light and sound levels causing distress.
Cashel itself is a gorgeous place, full of charm and the sense that, along with the tourist sights, real life is lived there too. We call into St John’s Cathedral, and into the Bolton Library, where among the book treasures sits a Sheela-na-gig exuding all the strange and unsettling power these figures always have. As with the Rock of Cashel, the cathedral and library are accessible if you call ahead so arrangements can be made. At the Rock this means they will open the gates so you can drive up and right in. Once inside, most of the paths and some of the buildings are accessible. At the library it simply involves putting out a ramp for Kathleen’s chair.
Kathleen is inspirational, and very good fun. Going around Cashel with her, I start to be aware of things – such as carelessly parked cars, obstructive street furniture, dog mess, high-edged pavements (the list goes on) that are annoying for me, but can present insuperable challenges to her.
She points out that not all disabilities are visible, and that people cope in different ways. People also have problems of access through temporary illness and with age. Her views on what the fundamental issues are echo a study by two law professors at Washington University in St Louis. Samuel Bagenstos and Margo Schlanger, wrote in 2007 that “it’s actually the inability to have access to the community that makes people with disabilities less happy. If you just compensate them for the disability, you’re providing a form of forced charity rather than equality and integration.”
** A list of accessible places in Cashel is online at www.cashel.ie/goldstar.html. The next phase of the Gold Star project in Cashel is the awarding of stars to the businesses that meet the criteria. A map detailing these will also be available
Where to stay
Aulber House B&B. Golden Road, 062-63713, www.aulberhouse.com
Watties B&B. Dominic Street, 062-61923, www.wattiesbandb.ie
Where to eat/drink
Café Terasse. Cashel Town Shopping Centre, 062-65003
Chez Hans Restaurant. Rock Street, 062-61177
Henry’s Delicatessen.Main Street, 086-103-7779
Ladyswell Restaurant. Ladyswell Street, 062-64402
Mikey Ryan’s Pub. Main Street, 062-61431
Morelli Restaurant. Ladyswell, Dublin Road, 062-62740, morellicashel.com
Pat Fox’s Pub, Main Street (and if you’re feeling peckish, you can order food from Oasis Restaurant upstairs to eat in the pub), 062-62428.
Morelli, Henry’s, Café Terrasse and both local pubs are the best choices if there are a number of wheelchairs.
Where to go
Bolton Library. John Street, 062-61944
Cashel Library. Friar Street (e-mail access, with software for visually impaired), 062-63825, www.tipperarylibraries.ie
Rock of Cashel. 062-61437
St John’s Cathedral. John Street, 062-61232
Tourist Office. Main Street, 062-61333
Where to shop
Beauty Secrets. Main Street Upper, 062-63348
Book Nook. Main Street, 062-64947
Celtic Bookmakers. Main Street, 062-70346
Centra supermarket. Friar Street, 062-62333
Friary Pharmacy. Main Street, 062-62120
Hallmark Card and Gift Shop. Moore Lane, 062-64500
Joan’s Fashions. Main Street, 062-62343
Kennedy’s Pharmacy. Main Street, 062-61066
Kilkenny Design Shop. Main Street, 062-65904
Klassy Kidz. Main Street, 062-63310
O’Dwyer’s Pharmacy. Cashel Town Shopping Centre, 062-65400
Spar. Main Street, 062-61527
Supervalu. Main Street, 062-61555
Tesco. Shopping Centre, 062-61882
William Alexander Hair Salon. Dominic’s Court, 062-64928
Refuelling
Tesco filling station. 062-61144
Wallace’s Filling Station. Friar Street, 062-61161
** See also www.accessireland.info, where accessible businesses, services and attractions are encouraged to list their details