DUN LAOGHAIRE-RATHDOWN County Council is to install a temporary lift at the newly refurbished Dún Laoghaire Baths until more permanent accessibility measures can be put in place.

Complaints were raised earlier this year about the lack of overall accessibility at the Baths, with the temporary ramps on the lower level described as being too steep.

A report was delivered to the council last night at a meeting, which said that a contractor would be starting at the end of May to rework the walkway between the East Pier and the Baths in order to install wheelchair-accessible ramps.

It is expected that these works will be finished by the end of November.

The contractor is to install a wheelchair-accessible lift for use until the new walkways are complete.

People Before Profit Councillor Melisa Halpin, who first proposed emergency measures to make the Baths fully accessible, said today: “It just beggars belief that this site could have been opened without full access for all.

“This was a real kick in the teeth for those with disabilities and all who had campaigned for this site.

“Finally, last night, [the council] reported that the works to provide full access will start at the end of May and that they should be completed by November.

“This is better news, but we will have to keep the pressure on to make sure it happens. I have asked for a progress report to be brought to the next meeting.”

The Dún Laoghaire Baths reopened in December after undergoing an €18 million refurbishment.

Sean O’Kelly, co-founder of Access For All, told The Journal earlier this year that the current ramps on the lower level at the Baths are “disgraceful”.

“To get to the main area, there’s three ramps. Three very steep ramps, and I couldn’t get up them, and I feared for my life going down them. I literally feared for my life going down them, because they were just so steep.”

In a statement to The Journal in January, a spokesperson for Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council acknowledged that the lower area of the refurbished Baths “is not accessible for some”.

“The recently opened Dún Laoghaire Baths represents the completion of the first phase of a larger project,” the spokesperson said.

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