The Bus Stop Campaign

Protests

On Thursday, the 28th of April 1994, the Center for Independent Living along with Christy Moore and Liam O Maonlai, took to the streets in protest against the abysmal situation of public transport for people with disabilities.

They demonstrated outside Dublin Bus Headquarters and at a number of city center bus stops, claiming that new buses like the city swift have no access for the disabled.

For years, the government rejected claims from CIL to make Dublin buses accessible for wheelchair users on the basis that the green double decker buses would be too old and "too expensive" to upgrade.

However a new fleet of modern buses was launched which had no equal access provisions.

Again on the 29th of June 1995, the Center for Independent Living launched a permanent protest outside the Dail.

Protesters carried banners which read "Free Travel for disabled people is a joke" and "Ramps can look sexy"!

"We are a front-edge radical active group. Transport is a liberator," said Brian Malone, disabled protester.

"We are reasonable people. We want an immediate solution and we are staying until we get one," said Martin Naughton, father of INCARE.

The protest gathered a lot of media attention. The well known Nell Mc Cafferty wrote at the time: "Dublin Bus is about to commission a new fleet. It will not accommodate the disabled, though a company in the North makes exactly the kind of bus needed and the rest of Europe is using it. The centre wants Dublin Bus to buy the model for the new city swift service. I want them to buy it too, because the Center is a power-house of ideas...If other organisations were like them, under development director Jana Overbo, all of us would become more independent tomorrow. Not next year, or in the next millennium, or in the next generation, as is so often the case when people start campaigning against the odds. Tomorrow."

Results of the Protests

The widespread media attention coerced the politicians into the tackling the issue. "Certainly I will exert my influence," stated the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications of the day, Michael Lowry. "I will take the matter up with CIE and ask the executive of CIE to meet with the executive of the group" said the minister. "I can see the problem: transport is inaccessible, end of story," he stated.

The minister pointed out that the government had provided an Omni-Link bus for disabled people as part as a pilot project. "That's a disgrace, minister," said Naughton, not to be outdone by the politician's feeble arguments. "It starts nowhere and goes nowhere."

On the 1st of August 1995, the Irish Times reported that: "CIE and the disability group INCARE are to establish a joint committee to see how public transport can be made accessible for people with disabilities.

The move follows a meeting between representatives of INCARE and the group managing director of CIE, Mr. Mc Donnell, following a recent protest outside Leinster House by members and supporters of INCARE."

Also, the CIL held a conference on Accessible Public Transport called "All Aboard ....Equal Access to Opportunity" on Tuesday the 7th of November 1995. The conference aimed at highlighting why Public Transport in Ireland should be accessible to all the public. The conference emphasised how the persistent lack of accessible public transport meant that people who experienced mobility difficulties were excluded from the opportunity to participate as equals in mainstream economic and social life.

It was clear that the CIL was making some inroads into making Public Transport in Ireland more accessible: Accessible Transport

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The Bus Stop Campaign

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