Hi There Guide Dog Owners, & indeed anyone interested in "access issues" for those of us with guide dogs! This is a response of an email Neil Ashworth sent to me in response to my strong thoughts on "spending areas" for our dogs in airports, and other transport venues: I'd be interested in hearing other peoples' views and hopefully, you could also contact Neil Ashworth so as he can bring to any talks with the relevant authorities your experiences, opinions, etc. With thanks Audrey Tormey ----- Original Message ----- From: "Neil Ashworth" <neil@xxxxxxxxxxxx> To: "Audrey Tormey" <atormey@xxxxxx> Sent: Wednesday, May 17, 2006 8:29 AM Subject: RE: Spending Areas in Dublin Airport for Guide Dogs Hi Audrey, I agree there should ideally be designated areas but at some airports this is not always practical. I am due to attend a meeting with Dublin Airport Authority and also Cork Airport Authority in the near future and I will be addressing this issue along with the need for improved low vision awareness training for airport personnel and a better understanding of the needs of blind and visually impaired people and in particular guide dog owners. I have worked with a number of airport authorities in the UK and a variety of solutions were found to this problem, not always a 'designated' spending area as we would understand it but a workable situation which provides the opportunity for the dog to relieve in a safe area prior to and after a flight into the airport. This is often a leash relief situation at larger airports with a large number of arrival/departure gates or at an airport where space or security is an issue. However, with the new European legislation protecting the 'Rights of Passengers with Reduced Mobility when Travelling by Air' there is a framework in place which allows organisations like IGDB to address our clients transport needs more actively. As I am fairly new to Ireland I would appreciate any information or experience you might have had in order to pass these on during my discussions and any suggestions you might also have for improvements in this area and indeed other areas of transport. Hope this answers your question for now. Feel free to pass this reply onto the guide dog list and if I can do any more for now please let me know. Kind regards, Neil. -----Original Message----- >From: Audrey Tormey [mailto:atormey@xxxxxx] Sent: 16 May 2006 18:46 To: Neil Ashworth Subject: Spending Areas in Dublin Airport for Guide Dogs Hi Neil, I am emailing you to see if you could pass on feedback to me as a GDO in terms of designated "spending areas" for our dogs in airports, and in particular in Dublin airport! I have already posted my sentiments to the guide dog list, and to date, there has been no feedback on this topic from staff of IGDB in regard to this potential problematic issue for those of us who travel with guide dogs. I understand due to the fact that there is no "designated grass area" for our dogs "to spend", we are expected to find our way to the car-park and allow our dogs "get busy" there! this I feel is both dangerous, impractical, and jeopardises both GDO and working dog. I feel there is a responsibility of organisations such as IGDB to provide advocacy and liaise with service providers to make it easier to access services. I look forward to a response from iGDB in the near future: Yours faithfully, Audrey Tormey the IRLGuideDogs mailing list Send messages to irlguidedogs@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Unsubscribe, vacation or digest options can be set by emailing irlguidedogs-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with a command in the subject line. For help simply type help. For help you may contact Darragh Ó Héiligh or Nicky Kealy at irlguidedogs-moderators@xxxxxxxxxxxxx For information on this list including policies and rules please visit //www.freelists.org/webpage/irlguidedogs