A man who created a special vehicle to carry people with mobility problems around country shows and festivals has claimed that the organisers of such events do not care about people with disabilities.
Mr Ned Deering, a Carlow farmer and livestock haulier, began the free service more than five years ago, and has become a recognised figure at the National Ploughing Championships with his vehicle "Matilda".
A quad bike pulls the four-seated vehicle around the show grounds so that people with mobility problems can see the sights in comfort.
Passengers stay on board for one to two hours, and can ring him on his mobile phone if they wish to be picked up after disembarking to see something.
Mr Deering said he offered this voluntary service because he wanted to help people. Passengers regularly told him that they would be confined to a car in the corner of a field if it were not for Matilda. "I carried Maeve Binchy at the ploughing championships in Ferns, and she sends me a Christmas card every year," he said.
But while the ploughing championships and some shows have welcomed him, he has received less of a welcome from some other venues.
Last year, his visits included Tullow Show and the Moynalty Vintage Rally but other major shows and race grounds refused him access.
Some of them said it was on safety grounds or for insurance reasons, he said. However, he has full public liability insurance.
Mr Deering pointed out that shows were full of large animals, separated from crowds by little more than a rope and a few stakes, yet this was not seen as a safety risk.
Last year, he raised the issue with the Irish Shows Association. The then president, Mr PJ Foy, said it was a matter for individual shows.
Mr Foy told The Irish Times that any opposition to Mr Deering's service was "purely and solely on safety grounds".
He said there would be no problem with the vehicle if it remained in one place, but Mr Deering wished to move through the showgrounds.
"That would be highly dangerous. You couldn't have that vehicle on a walkway where you have people walking with prams, and children all over the place.
"I couldn't see how it could be allowed."
Mr Foy said the Irish Shows Association had discussed the issue at board level and there was consensus on the issue.
He said show organisers welcomed people with disabilities and tried to be accessible for them but important safety issues could not be ignored.
Mr Deering said this was "nonsense" as his main problem was that he moved too slowly, at less than four miles an hour.
"People keep seeing someone they want to talk to and I have to stop for them. I move at a snail's pace," he said. "There is no danger that I would run someone over."
He said last year's European Year of People with Disabilities highlighted the "total lack of interest" in catering for people with disabilities.
