Wheelchair accessible bars - Dublin

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Hi,

I've searched the web, found a page on InDublin, but its not very helpful, phoned the IWA and no luck... maybe you can help ???

I'm looking for wheelchair accessible bars/clubs in Dublin. There are a few i know, Market Bar, Dakota, Coppers (believe it or not!), Cafe en Sein... is there anywhere else that you know of that is wheely friendly and has a wheely toilet ????

Can anyone add to the list ?

Anyone ??!!
 
I would imagine that any recently (last 10 years or so?) built/renovated licensed premises would be wheelchair accessible?
 
Don't know if they are wheelchair friendly, but both The White Horse and The Long Stone have wheelchair toliets.
 
Would organisations such as the Irish Wheelchair Association be able to help? Isn't there an RTE Radio magazine programme which deals with diability issues? Maybe they could assist?
 
Wheelchair accessibility is not a yes/no question. There are varying degress of accessiblity. An accessible bathroom which is fully compliant with Part M building regulations will not accomodate a wheelchair user who requires an assistant to transfer from the chair to the toilet seat. Users of larger motorised chairs may also have difficulties here. The Disability Focus Group of the Dublin Community Forum just produced a nice DVD demonstrating these point. An accessible bathroom where all that nice extra space has been turned into a storage area for mops and brooms will not accomodate anyone. An accessible bathroom where the sanitary waste been has been left in the wrong position will not be usable by many wheelchair users.

Unfortunately Clubman, your expectations regarding compliance of recently built/renovated buildings are not met in real life. Check out the Rogerson report on compliance & enforecement of Part M and you will find that compliance is poor and enforcement is pretty-much non-existant - see [broken link removed]. The radio show you are thinking of is 'Out of the Box' presented/produced by Olan McGowan - see [broken link removed]

Some of the guys over on boards.ie have been pulling together some info on accessible venues recently - see http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2054894844

Dublin City Council have recently provided a website where you can report details of your own access audits, so people might like to start logging their findings on this site [broken link removed]
 
Clubman, unfortunately the IWA don't have a list - and i've found them to be very unhelpful with any information - ive asked them before about holiday resorts that are accessible, dublin restaurants, and irish cottage rentals that are wheely accessible, but they don't seem to have any information. (they did give me a list of B&B's though...).

And with regard to bars built in last 10 years being compliant - if this is in, its most definately not enforced. there was a case last year where a pub was refurbished and supposedly had a wheely toilet, but after 2 yrs when they went to check it, they discovered it was just a door - and no opening behind it. Thats what we're dealing with!!

As for the toilets themselves, even if they're not the fullsize accessible toilet my friend would be ok. at this stage we're just looking for toilets on the level that are wide enough to fit a wheelchair - so say approx 2 foot wide or so.

Any bar names/ suggestions would be brilliant. thanks.
 
The Waterloo on Baggot Street is very wheelchair friendly. Long Bar with no steps or ramps. So much so that it seems to be very popular with wheelchair users.
 
Yes believe it or not Coppers is WheelChair friendly...they let u in the back door. There is no access to downstairs though
 
A couple of years ago myself and a disabled friend were in a city centre live music venue with alleged wheelchair access. Oh the wheelchair loo was there alright - and it had been handed over to the band to use as a changing room. Luckily my mate is the bolshie type and everytime she wanted to use the loo she turfed the five band members out onto the corridor - they were mortified. We complained... I doubt if anything has changed... she got a free CD from the band!
I could rant forever about this... the wheelchair loos being used to store cleaning equipment... the toilet that need keys that can't be found (what do they think the customers are going to do in there that is so dangerous it needs to be kept under lock and key??) Clubman - I'm afraid the regulations have made very little difference to some places - I've seen a pub with a wheelchair toilet that was located up a couple of steps - I'm not joking.
 
Jazzy Jeff,

Coppers has a lift, so you can get downstairs. though its quite crowded and not the best place to go. wheely toilet is on the ground floor.

Harcourt hotel also has a lift and wheely toilet - but few steps up to the place and you have to use the lift to get anywhere.
 

The best (worst) was the Mezzanine in Temple Bar which had a wheelchair loo - or at least they had a door which said wheelchair loo - behind it were bricks, the loo didn't exist and the door was simply there so as to comply with building regulations.

They were prosecuted for this so it's perfectly ok to name names.
 
Thanks, but i wouldn't rely on that list in the In Dubliner if my life depended on it. Toners wheelchair friendly ?? O'Donoghues is definately not. They don't have wheelchair friendly toilets - the toilets they do have are small enough even for a physically able person. The only thing about those pubs is that they're on the level, so apparently they qualify in Ireland as 'wheelchair friendly'.
 
[broken link removed] and are different magazines. The latter is probable a better place to check for wheelchair accessible massage parlours!
 
Knightsbridge is wheeler friendly - I have been there in company with someone in a wheelchair, there is a lift to get downstairs and there are wheelchair friendly toilets.
 
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