Disability Conference
9 June 2005

Dublin, Thursday 9 June, 2005: The Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, TD, officially opened the "Beyond Access" conference at Dublin City University today. The conference was organised by Get Ahead, the National Forum of Graduates with Disabilities, together with DCU's Disability Service.

The conference examined the employment rate for graduates with disabilities and attempted to identify access issues which would help improve that rate. Transport and accessibility of buildings were identified as the two major practical obstacles to graduate employment.

The conference was attended by over 150 delegates from third-level careers services, disability organizations, architects, Dublin Bus, as well as employers and graduates. Niamh Breathnach, An Cathaoirleach, Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown County Council was the MC and talks were given by Ms Anne Heelan, Director of AHEAD, Larry Swan of IBM, and graduates James Bradley and Emma Tracey.

Pat Rabbitte, TD, Senator David Norris and George Hook also participated.

Speaking at the opening of the conference, Professor Ferdinand von Prondzynski, President of DCU said that it was important for universities to cater the needs of every sector of society. "Through its distance education programme, Access initiatives and disability service, DCU promotes a policy of inclusion. The university has always taken a holistic approach to student development, and in the case of students with disabilities, this has included the setting up of one of Ireland's first disability services within the third level sector. Students at DCU receive both practical and moral support to ensure that they make the most of the university experience, which includes academic, sporting and social opportunities.

"DCU has also appointed a designated careers advisor to ensure that students with disabilities receive support, information and advice that they need to fulfil their career aspirations", he said.

According to Maeve Gallagher, careers advisor with the DCU disability service, accessibility is high on the DCU agenda. "Recent expansion and development of buildings over the last five years have incorporated design features that take into account universal access. For example, the reception area in the School of Nursing is at the correct height for wheelchair users and the lifts are built to take any size of wheelchair. There are also a number of purpose-built living units in the university residences that have been adapted to accommodate wheelchair users and students with other physical disabilities", she said. "What we need to do now is to ensure that employers also fulfil their obligations to provide workplaces that are accessible for graduates with disabilities, so that they do not experience exclusion".

Emma Tracy, a graduate of the BA in Communication Studies at DCU, gave a personal perspective on life as a student and a graduate. Blind from birth, Emma has launched a CD magazine, `Talk Around', for visually impaired young people between 16 and 35. This is a lifestyle publication with a distribution of 200, and provides information on hair and beauty, sports, relations, careers and technology which is available in glossy publications, but which is inaccessible to blind people. "Students with disabilities have ambitions and career aspirations and should be encouraged to fulfil these. All practical and attitudinal obstacles should be removed, to enable them to contribute fully to society, for their own and for everyone's benefit", she said.