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IRELAND’S NEWEST SENATOR is advocating for harsher punishments for illegal parking in disabled car spaces to deter misuse.
Motivational speaker and disability advocate Nikki Bradley was appointed to the Seanad this week as a replacement for Fine Gael’s Regina Doherty who has been elected to the European Parliament.
Bradley was diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer at 16.
She has survived multiple surgeries, including a tumour removal, two hip replacements, a femur repair and an amputation.
In an interview with The Journal, Bradley outlined some of her priorities in her new role, such as focusing on day-to-day improvements that can make a big difference in the lives of people with a disability.
One area she is keen to tackle is the misuse of disabled parking spaces and toilets.
It is an offence to park a vehicle in an accessible parking bay in a public place without a valid parking permit. Offenders receive a parking fine of €150 which increases to €225 if not paid within 28 days.
When asked if she would like to see a harsher punishment introduced, Bradley said:
“I would love to see clamping brought in. I think the harshest punishment is the only way to stop it.”
She understands the argument made against clamping that if somebody is in a disabled spot, the clamp takes longer to remove, so technically the space is taken up for longer.
However, she said, in the long run, “that person will never do that again”.
The use of disabled parking spaces by drivers who do not have a valid parking permit is rife around the country, but certain counties are worse than others, said the senator.
“Donegal is quite bad, we are a border country, and that’s all I’ll say on that. But there are different opinions on parking in Northern Ireland than in the south and I can say that with experience. And obviously, I can’t do anything about that.
“But I do think that the only way to tackle that is harsher punishment and bringing in clamping, that is something that I will be discussing,” she said.
Earlier this year, Bradley was involved in a campaign by the Disabled Drivers Association which was calling for a text alert scheme to call out the misuse of disabled parking spots.
The text alert scheme, which is already in use in Lucan, Rathfarnham village and Gorey, has a sign displaying the bay number and a mobile phone number in the accessible parking space.
If someone is parked in one of those bays without a permit or is misusing the permit, people can text the bay number to alert the traffic warden.
Bradley said she fully expected councillors around the country to “jump on it in a really good way”.
“I was really taken aback at the fact that didn’t happen and I was met with a little bit of resistance in certain areas. And that’s one thing that should change,” she said.
Bradley said it is “so important to get people with disabilities behind the wheel”, but there are obstacles in the way.
Car adaptations can cost thousands of Euros and if you adapt your car, you could end up paying more in insurance, said the senator, which she said is “very unfair”.
Speaking about her idea to have access keys rolled out to stop the misuse of disabled toilets, Bradley said it is something that is already in use in the UK whereby you are allocated a key and you will then have access disabled toilets around the country.
“Having nobody else use the toilets other than the people that need them will keep them cleaner, for starters, [and] will stop them from being used as storage units, which they quite often are,” she said.
“So again, that’s something that’ll make a big difference to people on a day-to-day basis,” she said.
Having been diagnosed with cancer as teenager, Bradley said she would like to speak more publicly about fertility issues that can follow on.
“I was diagnosed at 16 and I started my chemo at 17. I remember my mum was speaking to specialists saying should her eggs be frozen. We were told that because I was so young, it would be fine.
“So I was never given the option to freeze my eggs. I’ve been on HRT since I was 19. So I can’t have children as a result of my chemotherapy. And I started essentially experiencing menopausal symptoms after 19, which was horrendous,” she said.
Bradley said there was a lot of anger there afterwards, particularly as the question was specifically asked, and they were assured that it would be fine.
“I hope that isn’t still happening. I don’t know whether it is still happening. I would assume it’s not. But again, I always say to the person, the patient themselves, and their families, don’t assume you’ll be told everything. Do your own research. From day one, start asking questions. And don’t be afraid to speak up,” she said.
Following her diagnosis, radiotherapy basically destroyed the bone resulting in multiple operations and an amputation in 2022.
Bradley said she has made a conscious decision a few years ago to “keep going forward, regardless of what my body tries to do to slow me down”.
“I’m just going to go with the flow. You don’t really have a choice. If you need surgery, you need surgery and you can bitch and moan if you want or you can try and be positive about it and think about how will it improve my life afterwards,” she said.
Separately, other issues the senator wants to focus on is getting more young people to vote and championing sport for young people.
Disability issues will be a key focus in the time she has in the Seanad, with Bradley stating that she believes there has been a “slight disconnect” from this government on the issues.
“I do think that certain groups were maybe maybe overlooked,” she added.
When asked if she had any concerns about getting into politics, particularly as a young woman and given the abuse some politicians receive today, she said
“I don’t read comments. So, if people are saying things about me, I hopefully won’t see it. I always say, what people say behind your back is none of your business. But I do have certain concerns that. It’s not even being female, but as somebody with a disability, if I was approached on the street, and I felt threatened, I can’t just run away.
“I know that I will be putting certain measures in place just to make sure that things are safe, not just online, but in person,” she added.
With Bradley living in Milford in Donegal, would she be tempted to run for the Dáil when there is a general election?
“I’m keeping my options open and that’s the honest truth. I’m not saying no,” she said.
The Fine Gael senator said she plans to use the next couple months educating herself, adding: “Politics isn’t my background.”
Whether it is right for her, she said it is also about whether her running for election is right for Donegal. “You know, am I the right fit? I should know that as time goes on,” she said.
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