Temporary lift to be installed at Dún Laoghaire Baths until it can be made more accessible

The baths have been criticised for their lack of accessibility.

Following complaints of the lack of accessibility, a temporary lift is being installed at the Dún Laoghaire Baths until a more permanent solution can be found. According to The Journal:

"A report was delivered to the council last night at a meeting, which said that a contractor would be starting at the end of May to rework the walkway between the East Pier and the Baths in order to install wheelchair-accessible ramps. It is expected that these works will be finished by the end of November."

While work is underway on the new wheelchair-accessible ramps, the contractor will install a temporary lift. In January, a spokesperson for Dún Laoghaire County Council told Lovin that the redevelopment of the Baths had been divided into two phases, with one not yet complete, and said the ramp currently in place at the lower level is temporary and "not fully accessible yet". The statement reads: The recently opened Dún Laoghaire Baths represents the completion of the first phase of a larger project. The original plan for the Baths project includes the area that is now open, and also included upgraded walkways between this site and the old East Pier in Dún Laoghaire. Because of the complexity of the overall project, it was divided into two phases, with the upgrading of the walkways being postponed to the second phase. This second phase already has planning permission, and tender documents are currently being prepared which will allow for construction of this part of the project to commence.   The site that is now open consists of facilities at street level, mid-level and a lower level amphitheatre. The street level and the mid-level areas are fully accessible, and comply with Part M standards. The lower level is not fully accessible yet. A temporary ramp has been put in place to provide some level of access to this area, but the Council acknowledges that this ramp is steep in places, and that the lower level is not accessible for some. This will be rectified once Phase 2 of the overall project has been completed. This phase includes the provision of ramps to the lower level of the Baths site which are fully accessible and fully Part M compliant. Dividing the project into two phases has allowed some of the facilities to be opened to the public much faster than if the entire project had been developed as a single parcel of work, but with the drawback that the site isn’t currently as accessible for all as we would like it to be. This will be rectified by Phase 2, which is a priority project for the Council, and we expect to see contractors onsite working on this phase later in 2023. READ ON: - Bull Island to be partially closed off to visitors - DCC announce a series of weekly markets on Moore Street - Where have all the emos gone? - Carrolls gift shop the latest addition to Central Bank's new plaza