'Focus on what we can do'

Nenagh store sets example of inclusive employment

Equal opportunities is a term used by many employers, but you'd go a long way to find a better example of it in practice than at Mr Price in Nenagh.

The Martyrs Road store counts a deaf person, a wheelchair-user and six Ukrainian refugees among its multinational staff of 19.

Patrick Collins from Capparoe started working there last September. Despite being deaf, Patrick has the earned the distinction of becoming a checkout operator at the busy store. He was assisted by Chime, the national charity for deaf and hard of hearing people. A member of Chime provided the staff with information on Irish Sign Language (ISL), Patrick's first language, and some advice on inclusive communication strategies that would benefit both Patrick and Mr Price's deaf and hard of hearing customer interactions.

All of the staff have since gone on to learn (ISL) to one extent or another. It has helped the Capparoe man to settle into a job that he now loves, happy in the welcoming company of manager Olga Zabalkanskaja and her staff.

“When she told me to go on the tills, I was nervous,” Patrick - communicating in sign language through fellow staff member Cillian Dunne - said of working the checkout. “It took me time to learn what to do, but over time, I managed it. Over time, I learned to lip-read people better as well.

“I love working here in Mr Price with all the staff and I love that they learned sign language as well.”

There is a sign at the checkout to inform customers that Patrick is deaf. Even some of them have learned a bit of ISL as well.

“People are more patient,” Patrick said. “They take their time, but they don't say ‘oh, I want someone else’. They point at what they want and they take their time. They focus on what we can do, not what we can't.”

That last sentence perhaps best sums up the staff ethos at Mr Price in Nenagh. Cillian is well-known as an international standard wheelchair racer and winner of many medals in the sport. He too began working at Mr Price in Nenagh last September and has also delighted in the friendly atmosphere of the staff there.

“It's a massive family environment,” the Kilbarron man said. “I don't feel like I'm coming to work; I'm coming to meet with friends... I love it. It's the best thing I ever did.”

Cillian was thrilled to be given the opportunity to work at Mr Price and he regards his friendship with Patrick as an added bonus. He did not find it difficult to learn sign language and has probably mastered it better than any of the other staff.

“When I first worked with him, versus now that I've really got to know him, you can see the personality gushing out of him - who he really is, as opposed to someone who just sees ‘Deaf Patrick’,” Cillian said of his work colleague. “It's amazing being able to learn his language and being able to more/less fluently speak to him.”

Using an app called Concise ISL to help him learn the language, Cillian feels sign language should be introduced in schools and workplaces in general.

“I go up to my girlfriend every few weeks in Dublin and there was one occasion when I went up and saw someone trying to order something in McDonald's,” he related. “I said: ‘Hi, how are you?’ in sign language. They were sort of shocked that I could sign. I ordered what they wanted for them.

“That gave me a buzz because I was able to help someone. It's a really good skill to have.”

Olga mentioned that a person with autism was recently on work experience at the Nenagh store, and revealed that there are plans to take on another deaf person in the near future.

“Mr Price gives a chance to everyone,” she affirmed. “They do not look on people's disability, but people's ability, which is more important.”

The manager regards Cillian as a case in point; someone who refuses to be defined by disability and is perfectly capable of performing a variety of roles in the store.

“Our society is so tunnel-vision,” Olga remarked. “They think, if you have any sort of a disability, you can't work in the shop. You can!”

Cillian recalls people's surprise when he told them he was doing a college course in strength & conditioning in order to become a personal trainer. They assumed he would have been doing something in computers.

“It's that tunnel vision again,” he commented. “People think you must be doing a desk job. That's why I loved doing the course I did because it showed people that you are more than just a desk job.”

At Mr Price, he has found Olga and the staff buying into the ‘Just Do It’ philosophy, which helps him to get on with the tasks of his own accord. “That's the way I love to be treated. I want to be independent. If they started helping me, then I'd just lose that.”

For Cillian - who gives talks to schools and businesses on the subject - it's a mindset that goes back to his formative years and trying to find ways of triumphing over adversity.

“Some people find that it's better to raise people in cotton wool. In my opinion, all you're doing is causing problems in the future.

“It might seem very harsh to hear. When I was younger, my dad used to say ‘get up’ when I fell. But that formed me. At the end of the day, it gave me the independence that I have now and I love him for it.”

Olga, an Estonian national living in Nenagh for more than 20 years, believes Irish society has become more “open” to giving hitherto marginalised people a chance and realising that we can learn from them as much as they can from us. She would like to see a greater following of Mr Price's lead locally.

“I want more businesses in Nenagh to look around and see people's personality more than anything else,” she said, adding that this should apply to deaf and blind people, people with autism, those in wheelchairs and members of the Travelling Community.

“We need to give people a chance... “Maybe other companies will see our experience and they will learn. It's nothing spectacular. It's just daily routine. It's nothing different to work with people with disabilities; it's absolutely the same. Just change your attitude.”

Cillian rejoins: “What I'd say to managers in businesses around the area is: ‘Take people at face value, not what you see on paper’. If a manager sees a piece of paper that says: ‘This person is in a wheelchair’, they're going to make assumptions. Not out of badness, but they're just going to make assumptions, whereas if they just met me or someone like me, they'd see I'm capable, they'd see I'm able to work. Then they could make their choice.”

“I think also, those looking for a job have to be open-minded. The person with the disability has to want to work also... We have to want to be the difference and show that we're not going to let our disability affect us.”

Mr Price has been honoured with a number of awards in the area of diversity and inclusion, including the People's Choice award at the Charity Excellence Awards 2022; Talent Acquisition Strategy award at Irish HR Champion Awards 2023; Advancing Disability Equality award at the National Diversity and Inclusion Awards 2023, and selection among the finalists in the Advancing Social Inclusion award at the National Diversity and Inclusion Awards 2024.

Olga hopes the recognised achievements of the Nenagh store will inspire others to adopt a similar attitude.

“I want the message to go out to people in Ireland to start to respect and understand each other, to open their mind,” she said.

“That is what Mr Price has tried to do.”