Plan to increase number of stoma-friendly facilities in Kildare council buildings
Áras Chill Dara
Kildare County Council is to review accessible toilets in its public buildings and prepare a programme of stoma-friendly toilet upgrades, with a recent meeting hearing of the life-changing impact such facilities can have.
Cllr Angela Feeney brought forward a motion at the latest full meeting of the council, calling on the local authority to prepare a plan to roll out ‘low cost, high impact’ retrofitting of accessible toilets in council-owned buildings ‘to include stoma friendly facilities, creating a county-wide model of best practice and identifies funding and suitable locations’.
Acting director of services David Creighton and county librarian Gillian Allen issued the council’s written response, which stated that work has already been carried out in library buildings to provide stoma-friendly facilities within accessible toilets.
The council will review accessible toilets in its public buildings, starting with Áras Chill Dara, to see what improvements are needed to meet stoma-friendly standards. It will then draw up a plan for any upgrades, prioritising the busiest public buildings and identifying the funding required.
Kildare Library Service says all eight full-time libraries and five of its seven part-time branches already have stoma-friendly toilets.
Naas Library and Cultural Centre also has a Changing Places toilet, with similar facilities planned for the new libraries in Clane and Newbridge.
These facilities help people with stomas and other additional needs use public services with greater comfort, independence and dignity.
The Irish Stoma and Colorectal Cancer Nurses Association estimates that around 1 in 300 people in Ireland are living with a stoma.
Based on Census data and Kildare’s population, there could be more than 800 stoma users in the county.
Cllr Feeney told the meeting that leaving the house for everyday occurrences such as coffee or dinner can be a “nerve-wracking ordeal” for people with a stoma.
She said proper facilities “protect the dignity and privacy of a person”.
She said that people have thanked the Maynooth Access Group for the stoma-friendly library facilities, with one woman saying that it had changed her life.
Cathaoirleach Tim Durkan expressed support for the motion, as did cllrs Peter Melrose and David Trost.
