Ricky gets huge support for his campaign
Ricky Coonan from Ballina has received great support for his petition demanding that Tipperary County Council stop people from parking on footpaths due to the impact it has on wheelchair users like him.
Ricky’s petition, which calls for bollards to be installed to stop people from parking on footpaths, has already racked up more than 900 signatures since he set it up in May.
In the petition, Ricky says the village is often “bombarded with cars” resulting in parking on footpaths. This makes it “unsafe and unusable” for him as a wheelchair user.
Ricky said: “When cars are parked on the footpath, I want people - especially those who are able-bodied - to take a moment and look at this from my perspective. If you’re able-bodied, you can step off the footpath easily, even if the kerb is high. But if you’re a wheelchair user like me, that’s impossible. When someone blocks the path with their car, I’m left with three choices, and none of them are good.
“I can either wait for the car owner to return, call the gardaí, or simply go home. The last time this happened I had no choice but to turn around and go back home.”
REQUESTS DENIED
Ricky has already engaged with the council and implored it to take action, but so far officials have denied his requests for bollards that would keep footpaths safe and usable for pedestrians over cars.
Patrick Kelleher, Campaigner at Uplift, a people powered community of over 350,000 people seeking a more just Ireland, said: “Footpaths are for people, not cars - but people are parking on footpaths across Ireland, meaning people have to move into busy traffic to get around them. This puts everyone in danger, especially wheelchair users, children, and parents with prams.
“We all deserve to be able to move about our communities freely and safely, but people parking on footpaths is preventing wheelchair users from doing so all across this country.
“We urge Tipperary County Council to take note of Ricky’s petition and to take relevant action to stop people from parking on footpaths.”