'No retrofitting' in Laois of Portlaoise Library lift

There will be no alteration of the lift in Portlaoise library that the Irish Wheelchair Association claims is too small for most wheelchair users.

The CEO of Laois County Council has said "there is nothing to be done" rejecting a claim that the lift in the old library was bigger.

"There is to be no retrofitting," John Mulholland insisted at the January council meeting.

He repeated the fact that the lift and library meets the building regulations that were in place when it was constructed.

Mr Mulholland spoke about how the matter has been reported.

"The kind of headlines are unhelpful in relation to a landmark project that was years under preparation. I can say categorically that the lift complies fully with building regulations. It wouldn't have been funded if it didn't conform. It is disappointing why this came to the fore in the public arena. It complies with all regulations and that is the bottom line.

"It complies. There is nothing to be done. If there is a different point of view between the wheelchair users and I have obviously sympathy for that, they should take it up with the Department. 

The lift in Portlaoise library. Photo: Leinster Express.

"This lift is the exact same size as the lift in the old library. I do have sympathy if people have different sized wheelchairs. this needs to be put to the national building control regulation authorities. 

"The regulations that were in place in 2022 give a particular size of 800mm, with 1.1m x 1.4m of accommodation. That is to fit a wheelchair and an assistant and that is the way they are built in this state," Mr Mulholland said.

Cllr Ashling Moran had asked what was the plan and who would pay for the lift to be enlarged. She further queried the issue.

"The reason is that 90% of wheelchairs cannot get up to the second floor. Are you just going to leave that floor inaccessible to people with disabilities?" she asked.

"You spent €7.6 million on the library and the lift in the other library was a sufficient size," she said.

A spokesperson for the Laois branch of the IWA had reported the problem to Laois County Council last August, in an email to the Director of Services for libraries Donal Brennan.

"Our concern is the lift to access the upstairs. We were extremely disappointed that it is incredibly narrow and would not accommodate 80% of the wheelchair users attending our service. It is regrettable that secondary school students using wheelchairs can not currently avail of the study space as they use electric wheelchairs which will simply not fit safely on the lift, or if they do, will certainly not be able to come off it safely as there is no room for them to turn around.

"It is only one issue but a major one which involves structural work in order to make the library accessible to all. I am only sorry we were not consulted prior to the building work as it would have saved much time and expense. I really did not anticipate this as the previous library had a much larger and accessible lift and I can’t quite understand why the decision was made to reduce the size of the lift at a time when most wheelchair users use electric wheelchairs which are much bulkier but also promote independence," the spokesperson wrote.

The Leinster Express / Laois Live reported on the issue after it was raised by Cllr Caroline Dwane Stanley on behalf of the Laois branch of the IWA. 

Almost half of the €7.6m library, opened last August, is located on the first floor, including the student study area, local studies area and a community meeting area. 

The 2022 Building Regulations state that the internal size of lifts should be a minimum 1100 x 1400mm. However, in public facilities such as libraries, if "practicable", the IWA say that lifts should be larger, measuring 2000mm wide x 1400mm deep.