{"id":404493,"date":"2025-09-07T05:38:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-07T05:38:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/404493\/"},"modified":"2025-09-07T05:38:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-07T05:38:11","slug":"deeply-concerning-as-only-three-of-northern-irelands-historic-sites-have-wheelchair-accessibility-information-listed-online","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/404493\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Deeply concerning\u2019 as only three of Northern Ireland\u2019s historic sites have wheelchair accessibility information listed online"},"content":{"rendered":"

A disability advocacy group<\/a> has said that it is \u201cdeeply concerning\u201d that wheelchair accessibility information is only centrally available online for three of the north\u2019s 187 historic state care sites<\/a>. <\/p>\n

There are currently 187 State Care Monuments in the north, ranging from single sites such as Dunluce Castle<\/a> to groups of monuments. <\/p>\n

Described as \u201camong the most important historic places in Northern Ireland\u201d, they are maintained by the Historic Environment Division (HED) of the Department for Communities (DfC)<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Read more: <\/b>Co Down estate\u2019s hidden WWII history unearthed as tree engravings reveal site\u2019s former US army connection<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

\"‘It<\/a>\"Man<\/a><\/p>\n

While not all currently open to the public, they are centrally listed on the \u2018Historic Places to Visit\u2019 section of the DfC website. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

However, details obtained by The Irish News via Freedom of Information (FOI) request reveal that just three of the 187 monuments on the department\u2019s central register of monuments provide users with wheelchair accessibility information. <\/p>\n

These include Ballycopeland Windmill and Dundrum Castle in Co Down<\/a> as well as Co Armagh<\/a>\u2019s Navan Fort. <\/p>\n

While accessibility information for sites, such as Carrickfergus Castle<\/a>, may be found in advance on other websites, the information is not recorded on the department\u2019s central list. <\/p>\n

In the FOI response, HED stated that wheelchair accessibility \u201cis not held by this Department in recorded form for all 187 State Care Monuments\u201d but that they hoped to update the website as information becomes available. <\/p>\n

They said that the \u201ccollection, recording and communication of information regarding wheelchair accessibility at State Care Monuments does form part of a wider accessibility project currently underway\u201d within DfC, however \u201cthe element regarding wheelchair accessibility is at an early stage\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"CarrickfergusWhile accessibility information for sites, such as Carrickfergus Castle, may be found in advance on other websites, the information is not recorded on the department’s central list PICTURE: MAL MCCANN <\/p>\n

Nuala Toman, head of accessibility at Disability Action NI, told The Irish News that while they understand the challenges that come with making historic sites accessible, it was \u201cdeeply concerning\u201d that DfC only had information listed for three sites.<\/p>\n

\u201cDisabled people should be able to access and enjoy our shared heritage on an equal basis with everyone else,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that accessibility information is only provided for three of the 187 sites is deeply concerning. This creates unnecessary barriers for disabled people who are already excluded from so many areas of public life.<\/p>\n

\u201cAccessibility is not just about physical access to a site, but also about clear, accurate and transparent information so that disabled people can make informed decisions before we travel. <\/p>\n

\u201cWithout this, disabled people face uncertainty, wasted journeys, and exclusion from cultural and community life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Campaigner Tim Hedgely said that not having accessibility information easily available means those with disabilities \u201cjust don\u2019t go\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cEvery single journey I take which is generally no more than an hour, I have to know where the toilet stops are and I have to be aware of those things,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAccessibility should be accessibility for absolutely everybody, not \u2018them and us\u2019 – we\u2019re all part of the same community.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt makes you feel like [you\u2019re not part of the community].\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms Toman from Disability Action has called on the department to carry out \u201ca full accessibility audit of all state care monuments\u201d and to publish the information in \u201ca clear user-friendly format\u201d as well as setting out a plan for \u201caddressing barriers\u201d. <\/p>\n

The Department for Communities has been contacted for comment. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A disability advocacy group has said that it is \u201cdeeply concerning\u201d that wheelchair accessibility information is only centrally…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":404494,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5011],"tags":[45634,139405,2348,1144,16,15,44023],"class_list":{"0":"post-404493","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-northern-ireland","8":"tag-accessibility","9":"tag-dfc","10":"tag-history","11":"tag-northern-ireland","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-wheelchair"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115161406210131555","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=404493"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404493\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/404494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=404493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=404493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=404493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}