Taxi-drivers who ignore them, insurance companies which reject them and buses they can't use are among the obstacles disabled people face daily, the Forum of People with Disabilities says. The Forum's spokeswoman, Ms Sinead Murtagh, said yesterday she sat for over an hour in her wheelchair in Camden Street, Dublin, one night last week as empty taxis passed her by. Some drivers even waved to her as they drove past.
It was not an unusual experience for her, she said at the publication of a Forum document on transport on the eve of today's European Day of Disabled Persons. "I was left three hours stranded one night in Buswell's Hotel because taxis wouldn't come for me."
With some exceptions, she said, "taxis won't come if they know you are disabled and they won't stop on the street."
But discrimination is not confined to taxis, she said. Other obstacles encountered by wheelchair-users include:
Airlines which won't carry more than one wheelchair-user at a time "or make up rules as they go along and leave people stranded in airports".
Trains which won't allow a wheelchair-user to board unless the booking has been made in advance.
DART stations which wheelchair-users cannot get into or out of.
Insurance companies which refuse to cover people with disabilities. One company sought proof that she could drive competently despite the fact that she already had a five-year no-claim bonus.
"Transport is the key for everyone to participate fully in society," the Forum document published yesterday said.
"Ireland's transport system for the most part excludes people with disabilities. Having no access to transport means no access to participation in life's activities."
An activities pack to encourage youth clubs to include people with disabilities was introduced yesterday by the National Arts and Disability Centre.