Wheelchair beach mats at Dollymount Strand

Councillor Heney wishes to advise constituents that wheelchair mats have been installed at Dollymount Strand today. The beach mats will provide wheelchair and scooter users with greater access to the North Bull Island Nature Reserve and beach areas.

The specially designed beach mats extend 125 metres onto the beach from the end of Causeway Road and will afford wheelchair and scooter users greater mobility on the sand.

The trial of the beach mats comes after a recommendation from the North Bull Island Oversight Forum to improve accessibility for beach users with additional mobility requirements, both on the nature reserve and its 5 km beach. It is anticipated, subject to use and demand, that the mats will be extended further along the beach in future years.

The new mats will complement the existing beach mobility resources at the North Bull Island, such as the beach wheelchair service. The two types of beach-safe wheelchairs available, DeBug and Hippocampe, can be availed of between 10am and 6am, seven days a week, during the bathing season of 1st of June – 15th of September.