Laois Paralympian fears university dream will collapse due to lack of financial support

Former Paralympian, Ailish Dunne, from Mountmellick has said that she fears her dream of going to university will crumble as she is forced to leave her hometown to attend lectures.

Ailish, aged 39, says she will be unable to pursue her ambition to study psychology at degree level one day if there is not an improvement in financial supports available for adult learners.

Ailish became blind in her late teens following treatment for cerebral vasculitis. The former discus thrower and shot putter represented Ireland at the London Paralympics in 2012 as well at the World Para Athletics Championships in Christchurch, New Zealand in 2011. 

The Paralympian has since unfortunately been forced to retire from competing in competitive sports due to an injury. Following this retirement from sports, Ailish enrolled in a computer course at Laois Offaly Education and Training Board to improve her job skills.

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Ailish said: "As soon as I leave my hometown for more education it will be chaos, and costs will spiral. I’m dreading it."

She added: "I will somehow need to find the money from my welfare payments to cover the cost of a carer to drive me to and from college, while also keeping a roof over my head.

"It’s an impossible ask, and I’m now caught in a classic benefits trap: I don’t want to live on state handouts, but at the same time, I can’t afford the cost of studying to improve my job prospects."

Ailish is now supporting a campaign by the adult learning organisation AONTAS to call for increased financial support for adult learners.

These financial barriers are not just experienced by Ailish. In a nationwide survey conducted by AONTAS, it found that one third of learners said that they need greater financial support to remain in education in order to improve their quality of life, build knowledge, and boost career opportunities.

Around 41% of the 1,030 adult learners surveyed said they were unhappy with the information they received regarding availability of additional supports for childcare, transport and meals. 

Meal allowances for some adult learners currently are as little as 80 cent per day. At yesterday's launch of the campaign, AONTAS CEO Dearbháil Lawless asked: "How is anyone supposed to feed themselves on 80 cent a day? You can’t even buy a cup of tea for that."

With Budget 2025 around the corner, AONTAS are calling for key reforms for adult learners, such as a 50% increase in allowances, an increase in social welfare payments and a greater commitment to providing more information for the public on adult education courses and supports available.

As figures from SOLAS show that one in three adult learners are unemployed, Lawless said social welfare should be benchmarked so that people’s basic needs are met to allow them to "enter and succeed in education, find a career, and improve their self-confidence, standard of living and general happiness levels."

She added: "People can’t engage in education unless their basic needs are met, including accommodation, food, and health.

"More financial supports will have wider benefits for Irish society, including increasing social equality and building stronger communities."

Dublin Oldschool creator, playwright and actor, Emmet Kirwan, showed his support for the AONTAS campaign at its launch on September 2. He said: "It's a lot easier to do well in education if you live in a stable household or area, and not in poverty. It’s easier to be able to study and do well in school or a course."