South Dublin County Council wins EU Access Special Mention Award for landscapes and special play areas

'Play is a basic human right for all children but play alone is not enough. Children deserve to spend their childhoods in close contact with nature and to benefit from its many gifts.  This can be especially important to children with Autism and other sensory issues. Realising this and bringing the values of inclusion, respect for the natural world and community participation into our projects has guided our decision making and delivered enormous benefits." 

The above was part of a speech made by the Mayor of South Dublin County Council, Alan Edge, as he accepted a Special Mention Award for landscape and play areas from the European Access City Award Scheme on Friday 1 December in Brussels. 

Mayor Edge went on to pay tribute to the local community. He said, "To the citizens of our South Dublin, you are the primary reason for our success. Your engagement, feedback, and support have been instrumental in shaping policies and projects that prioritize accessibility. The conversations in local neighbourhoods, community centres, playgrounds and classrooms all around our County gave us the knowledge we needed to transform how we were meeting the needs of children growing up in our county." 

DFI's CEO John Dolan and Dr Emer Begley (pictured with Mayor Edge) were present for the award ceremony in Brussels. 

The Access City Awards were created by the European Commission to reward cities that have prioritised accessibility for persons with disabilities. The Access City Award programme is open to

• all EU cities of over 50 000 inhabitants
• urban areas composed of two or more towns with a combined population of over 50 000 inhabitants, if they are in EU countries with fewer than 2 cities with over 50 000 inhabitants. 

We offer our congratulations to Mayor Edge and all involved in bringing this recognition home to Ireland. 

ENDS