Wexford County Council set to roll out €25,000 strollers at blue flag beaches

Back in 2015, Wexford County Council became the first local authority in the country to introduce free beach wheelchairs for people with disabilities, an idea credited to Cllr George Lawlor who had noted the novel idea while on holiday in France.

The Labour councillor is delighted to see that the idea of improving access to Wexford's beaches has grown even further with the investment in beach strollers for each of the county’s blue flag beaches.

"I had contact from people late last year who felt that these strollers would be a good addition to our beach wheelchairs to provide greater access to our beaches for those with mobility issues,” he said.

"I brought the idea to the Head of Finance and she made provision in the budget to purchase these strollers to use side-by-side with our beach wheelchairs.”

Cllr Lawlor estimates that, between the cost of purchasing the strollers and installing the required storage for them, the project carries a cost in the region of €25,000.

"I think it’s value for money when you consider the massive positive impact this could have for people,” he said.

"These strollers will be trialled in the coming weeks and then the plan is to roll them out to all our blue flag beaches.”