Trinity has long been celebrated as a bastion of academic excellence and historical significance. However, beneath its storied reputation lies a troubling reality: its campus remains deeply inaccessible to many disabled students, staff, and visitors. Despite ongoing promises of improvement, Trinity’s built environment often fails to meet the needs of those with disabilities, leaving them excluded from full participation in college life.
Students repeatedly complain to Estates and Facilities and the Disability Service about issues of inaccessibility across campus, but little is done to address these concerns or improve conditions. Despite ongoing feedback highlighting barriers related to physical access, signage, and the usability of key facilities, meaningful progress remains elusive. The following examples were stark;
Printing House Square (PHS)
“Though designed as a modern and inclusive space, Printing House Square has significant accessibility flaws,” says Chioma, a wheelchair user. “The outdoor lift is my biggest issue. It’s dysfunctional 90% of the time I use it, and Estates & Facilities has known about this since September 2023 without resolution.” Chioma adds that reliance on alternative routes, coupled with limited building access outside specific hours, causes delays and additional challenges. “We’re often told, ‘The maintenance workers say it’s fine,’ but it’s not. Disabled users need to be consulted to address these ongoing barriers.”
Similarly, Glen, another wheelchair user who recently moved into the brand-new accommodation at Printing House Square, shares his frustrations. While the front entrance of the building was accessible, he found that almost all internal doors were not. ‘When I finally got to my apartment on the top floor, I discovered that the entrance door was inaccessible, although my room itself was designed to accommodate wheelchair users,’ Glen explains. “Why would someone design a building like this?”
He also highlights difficulties with accessing the wardrobes, describing them as poorly designed and impractical. “It’s such bad design,” he adds, underscoring the ongoing challenges posed by a lack of thoughtful, inclusive planning.
Trinity Sports Centre
Melanie, a wheelchair user, shared her frustrations with the ongoing dysfunction of the Trinity Sports Centre lift. “I’ve stopped trying to use the facility because the lift is always broken,” she said. This failure impacts her ability to train and balance her athletic and academic commitments.
Since the start of the academic year, the lift has worked only 5% of the time, forcing Melanie to rely on a service lift that requires waiting 10-20 minutes per trip. “This delay not only disrupts my training but makes me late for tutorials and lectures,” she explained. “It’s unfair to compromise my education and sport because a basic accessibility feature isn’t functioning.”
Beyond the delays, the process undermines her independence. “I need staff to operate the service lift, which feels demeaning. No one else asks for permission to access different floors.”
As a high-performance athlete on a Trinity scholarship, Melanie emphasises the lift issue limits her ability to train effectively and discourages her from practicing independently in the sports hall. “Your ‘outstanding facility’ is inaccessible to wheelchair users like me, and it’s affecting my ability to succeed in sport and academics. This needs immediate resolution.”
The Long Room Hub & Arts Building lift
Students and staff alike frequently report issues with broken lifts and poorly maintained pathways. When lifts fail, alternative routes are either non-existent or impractical, leaving disabled individuals stranded or forced to navigate lengthy detours.
These examples illustrate only a fraction of the day-to-day struggles faced by members of Trinity’s community with disabilities. The audit results reveal that the majority of buildings fail to meet even basic accessibility standards, let alone align with universal design principles.User-Led Audits: A Ground-Up Examination
Over the summer of 2024, disabled students took matters into their own hands by conducting detailed audits of the campus. Their findings revealed significant barriers across multiple domains:
Take doors, for example. A staggering 70% of campus buildings were found to have had dysfunctional or inaccessible doors, forcing students to rely on others for assistance. Students often find themselves feeling like they are always asking for help, and it’s humiliating. Accessible toilet facilities present another challenge, with over 60% deemed unusable due to poor maintenance or lack of space. This massively hinders students freedom and the reliability of resources that most of us would take for granted.
Less than 10% of lecture theatres offered equitable seating options, often relegating wheelchair users to isolated or very awkward areas. Considering teaching is foundational to the College, it is quite appalling that this issue has taken its time to accommodate its students. In these situations it becomes challenging for students to feel welcomed and part of the learning environment. This is compounded for STEM students as a lack of accessible labs remains a critical issue. Physical or sensory challenges can usually be easily overcome as most practical spaces tend to have available space and equipment or methodology that could be made adaptable.
Finally, a common problem that average student may be more familiar with wayfinding and signage across campus. Currently presented as a maze of confusion for visually impaired and neurodivergent individuals in particular. While signage consistency is being worked on, there is a significant area of improvement needed for accessible internal navigation particularly aimed at larger and more complicated buildings such as the Hamilton complex.
Who is Responsible?
Responsibility for addressing these issues is fragmented. The Estates and Facilities team oversees maintenance and infrastructural upgrades, while individual schools and departments often make ad hoc accessibility adjustments. However, this piecemeal approach lacks accountability and vision. Disabled students and staff frequently report that their concerns are met with delays, excuses, or outright inaction. For example, despite repeated complaints about broken lifts in key buildings such as PHS and the Library, there appears to be no centralised log of these issues or system for notifying disabled users.
When Will Change Happen?
Trinity’s Strategic Plan for 2020-2025 includes commitments to improving accessibility. Yet, progress has been slow and uneven. While some initiatives, such as the introduction of the Trinity disAbility Hub are commendable, they fail to address the systemic barriers that persist across the campus. The college’s reliance on historical preservation as a justification for inaction is no longer tenable. Other universities with historic campuses like Oxford and Cambridge have implemented innovative solutions to balance preservation with accessibility. Trinity’s failure to follow suit reflects a lack of prioritisation rather than genuine constraints.
The Human Cost of Inaccessibility
The cost of inaccessibility at Trinity College Dublin goes far beyond logistical challenges — it is deeply personal. Students like Chioma and Melanie are not just inconvenienced; they are excluded from vital aspects of university life. The impact extends beyond these individual experiences and sends a clear and damaging message to visitors, prospective students, and staff: Trinity is not a place for you. This exclusion directly undermines the college’s commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion, while also harming its reputation, as accessibility becomes a priority for those choosing where to study and work.
The issues are not limited to PHS or the Sports Centre. Awkward outdoor lifts, like those accessing Kinsella Hall, frequently break down. Indoor lifts, such as those in the Library Complex and Arts Block, require users to pull heavy glass doors while operating mobility aids — another example of poor design that disregards disabled users’ needs. Even Trinity College Dublin Student’s Union (TCDSU) Teach 6, home to student representatives, is not wheelchair accessible, preventing students from raising their concerns in person.
SafeZone does provide lift notifications, but many users report difficulties accessing them. Worse still, the lack of meaningful dialogue or action compounds the frustration. “I’ve logged all Ability Co_op members’ communications with Estates & Facilities,” added one student. “It shows a consistent lack of response or action.”
Inaccessibility at Trinity has excluded students socially and academically, and even in their activism. As Chioma sums up: “Accessibility issues affect every part of my life here — socially, academically, and as an advocate for change. It’s exhausting to constantly navigate barriers that shouldn’t exist.”
The TCDSU were asked to comment on inaccessibility and Hamza the Welfare and equality officer stated “TCDSU/AMLCT completely supports the work of TCDSense and the DisAbility Service. Since July 2024, we have engaged in multiple collaborative campaigns across our campuses, to include work on the TCDSense Map. Despite these efforts, the Union continuously recognises the accessibility issues posed by the campus onto our students and researchers.”
“In Michaelmas Term 2024, the Union ran ‘Access to Education Week’ as part of our campaigns calendar, with one of the objectives being to call attention towards the inaccessibility of multiple buildings across the main campus. This involved placing placards that read ‘Where is my accessibility’ and ‘This building is not accessible’, with stickers accompanying the campaign. These activations highlighted only some of the physical issues, and we support the disAbility Service in pushing college to improve its campuses.”
Stickers that were stuck around campus as part of an awareness campaign by the SU.
The Central Societies Committee (CSC) were also asked for a comment saying that ‘the CSC acknowledges the significant challenges posed by inaccessibility on campus and stands in solidarity with students and staff advocating for meaningful change. Societies play a vital role in fostering inclusion, connection, and a sense of belonging within the Trinity community. However, the inaccessibility of campus spaces often limits the participation of disabled students and undermines the values of equity and diversity we strive to uphold.
We call on the College to prioritise accessibility in all future planning and maintenance, ensuring that all students, regardless of ability, can fully engage with campus life. This includes addressing the longstanding issues highlighted by the student-led audits, such as broken lifts, inadequate signage, and inaccessible facilities, all of which create unnecessary barriers. In our role, the CSC is committed to supporting societies in making their events and activities as inclusive as possible. However, without adequate infrastructure and a coordinated approach to campus accessibility, these efforts are hindered. We urge College leadership to adopt a proactive, systematic strategy to ensure accessibility becomes a non-negotiable standard across all spaces. The CSC is proud of accessibility related upgrades done in recent years and stands ready to work with College, societies, and students to champion and support far more much needed renovations and improvements, ensuring a campus environment where all members of our community can thrive.”
Trinity College Dublin, a beacon of education and history, has long faced criticism over its accessibility shortcomings. The Provost is writing a new strategic plan the one she will be judged upon. So what will she do to ensure we stop making excuses, to ensure an inclusive and equitable experience for all students, staff, and visitors, the university must adopt a proactive, centralised approach to accessibility. Here are four key steps us student want. Trinity must take to address these persistent issues effectively:
The first step is for Trinity to develop and publicly commit to a detailed accessibility plan in its next strategic plan. This plan must outline clear timelines, actionable goals, and accountability measures. By setting measurable targets and ensuring transparency, the university can build trust and demonstrate its commitment to making the campus more inclusive. This plan should address both short-term fixes and long-term systemic changes to ensure accessibility becomes a foundational principle.
Accessibility issues on campus often go unreported or unresolved due to the lack of a cohesive system for addressing them. A centralised reporting system would allow students, staff, and visitors to log accessibility concerns easily. Such a system must ensure transparency, with updates on the progress and resolution of each issue. A centralised approach would also enable Trinity to track patterns and prioritise recurring problems, ensuring resources are allocated effectively.
To embed accessibility into the university’s fabric, Trinity must mandate universal design training for all staff and decision-makers. This training would empower those in leadership and operational roles to prioritise universal design principles in all new projects, renovations, and policies. By fostering a culture of awareness and proactivity, Trinity can prevent accessibility issues before they arise.
Lastly, regular and independent audits of campus accessibility are crucial. These audits would serve as a means to measure progress, identify ongoing challenges, and hold the institution accountable. The results of these audits should be publicly shared to maintain transparency and demonstrate the university’s commitment to continuous improvement.
Trinity’s historic campus and modern facilities must reflect a commitment to inclusion and equity. Addressing accessibility cannot remain a reactive process but must instead become a cornerstone of the university’s ethos. By adopting these four key measures, Trinity has the opportunity to lead the way in accessibility reform and set a standard for institutions across Ireland and beyond.
The challenges faced by disabled students, staff, and visitors at Trinity are not insurmountable. However, they require leadership, commitment, and a willingness to prioritise accessibility over excuses. As one of Ireland’s leading institutions, Trinity has a responsibility to set the standard for inclusion and equity. The question is no longer whether change is needed but when — and whether the college’s leadership is willing to act.
Until meaningful steps are taken, the inaccessibility of Trinity’s campus will remain a glaring stain on its legacy, leaving disabled members of its community asking: when will we truly belong?
An earlier version of this article read that Melanie is a Paralympian, this is not the case. Changed at 2.48 pm 26/02/25 by Brídín Ní Fhearraigh-Joyce.
