Mayo man takes action and paints disabled parking spaces in Westport

A MAYO man took action into his own hands and painted disabled parking bays in Westport after claiming his complaints about them have fallen on deaf ears.

Westport man Mick Higgins told The Mayo News that he has bought blue and white paint and vowed to paint the disabled parking bays in the town which he says are in ‘a terrible condition’. He claimed that attempts by him to get Mayo County Council to paint the parking spaces have not been unsuccessful so he has decided to do it himself.

“The disabled parking space down at O’Donnell’s chemist on Bridge Street is in a very bad way so I am going to paint that along with others on Shop Street and on the Mall. I contacted the council a couple of months ago about this and I was told they have no money to paint the disabled parking space. I went off and bought €50 worth of blue and white paint on Saturday and barring rain this evening, I am going to paint them,” Mick told The Mayo News on Monday evening before starting on the parking space on Shop Street.

Badly faded

MICK’S daughter Emma has been blind since birth and he has a disabled permit for his vehicle. He says that the blue colour signifying the disabled parking space in Westport is badly faded and should be painted if the council are serious about supporting people with disabilities

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“I am doing it to highlight how bad a state the disabled parking spaces are in Westport. I read recently the council have a load of money they have not spent and yet they are telling me they don’t have the money to do the disabled spaces, which you cannot see but if you go over to Castlebar they are shining up at you. People who have disabilities are always complaining about them so I decided it is time it was highlighted. Something has to be done about it,” he said.

Mick has been vocal about the obstacles people with disabilities face when moving around Westport and in 2019 he highlighted the issue of sandwich boards blocking access along footpaths.

“My issue is with the council. I have been fighting over ten years over sandwich boards on the paths and nobody is doing anything about it, eventhough I am told I am right. I know I am fighting a losing battle but it is not right that they are still blocking footpaths in Westport and I will continue to highlight it,” the former Westport and Mayo GAA footballer said.