Matthew McGrath attended Enable Ireland children’s services in Wicklow prior to finishing school and is one of our Life with No Limits champions. Matthew started a campaign to get access to his local beach in Ballymoney, Gorey, Co. Wexford because, as a wheelchair user, he has no access to it at the moment. Matthew hopes that this will be the first of many access projects that he will work on to make our beaches accessible for everyone.

"My name is Matthew McGrath and I live in North Wexford. I am surrounded by beautiful beaches that I cannot access in my wheelchair.  My family and friends are sea swimmers and I cannot join them on the beach because there are no accessible paths or trails.

I started a campaign to get access to my local beach in Ballymoney, Gorey, Co.Wexford. Because I am a wheelchair user I have no access to it at the moment. I’ve been in touch with the local council who are working with me on it and I have a blog and a website about my access projects which is called http://wheeleasybeaches.ie. I hope this will be the first of many access projects that I will work on to make our beaches accessible for everyone. I’d like others to take a look and see if they can start a campaign to get access to beaches in their area as well. It is a really important issue and it affects a lot of people. We need more access to our local beaches. I go to Ballymoney every weekend so I should be able to get onto the beach here like everyone else.

I did my leaving cert earlier in the year and now I am studying food and nutrition in UCD one day a week and I am doing a rehabilitation course four days a week in Wexford. I am really enjoying college life. I’ve met lots of new people and had new experiences. It’s a new chapter in my life and I’m enjoying doing new things and finding new hobbies. My advices to others is to just go for it. Don’t be afraid to try new things!”

Matthew attended Enable Ireland children’s services in Wicklow prior to finishing school. Find out more about Matthew’s campaign to get access for wheelchair users to beaches in Wexford by visiting his website http://wheeleasybeaches.ie and sign his petition.