Beach wheelchair finally makes it onto Inchydoney beach

AFTER two years of delays, one of two all-terrain beach wheelchairs at Inchydoney Beach has finally been available for members of the public to use at the weekends.

While it was timely with the pleasant weather this week, the coming weekend will, sadly, be the last weekend the chair is available this season.

The state-of-the-art beach wheelchair is being stored in the lifeguard’s hut, but as lifeguards finish their summer season this weekend, the chair will be then be off-limits to users until next summer.

Speaking to The Southern Star, Cllr Paul Hayes said he is delighted one of the beach wheelchairs has been up and running for the last fortnight.

‘We finally got over the last hurdle and we finally got a breakthrough where we are able to store one of the beach wheelchairs at the lifeguard hut at the beach, while the booking out system is  being  done by the kind staff at the reception of the Inchydoney Island Lodge & Spa Hotel,’ explained Cllr Hayes.

But he added that there is only room to store one of the beach wheelchairs at the hut. The other beach wheelchair is being used by a local family.

He said storage issues will be examined for next summer. Cllr Hayes had previously been storing the two chairs in his garage.

Members of Clonakilty Camogie Club fundraised for the two all-terrain Hippocampe beach wheelchairs, costing a total of €6,000, during the pandemic. The delay in implementing this much-needed service was due to issues over storage.

Clonakilty Access Group welcomed the development and thanked all who persevered for two years to make it happen.

There had been calls for the life guard season to start earlier in the summer and extend longer into September, due to warming temperatures due to climate change.