After a recent video showing the degredation of footpaths in North County Dublin went viral online, questions are being asked about why they're so bad.
From obstacles to cracks to raised sections; the footpaths across the country are in disarray.
Councillor with the Social Democrats for Howth Malahide Joan Hopkins recently shared a video illustrating just how bad they are, and people quickly started to take notice.
The video showed paths in Howth, Sutton, Malahide, Portmarnock and Baldoyle, but the issue is country-wide.
When speaking to Lunchtime Live about the issue, Ms Hopkins described the problem as "chronic".
She said: "It's unbelievable when you start looking, but we have a chronic problem with footpaths and I'm absolutely obsessed with trying to fix the problem.
"We've places with no paths, we've places with paths with obstacles, whether they're poles, bins, parked cars, bushes, or we've, as I posted the other day, broken paths.
"We also have an issue with no dished curbs, which means that paths are inaccessible to people with wheelchairs, walkers or buggies.
"So we do have a big problem, but I think it's something that we could fairly easily solve.
"It's hugely important because some people think, 'Oh, they're just footpaths, it's just concrete', but actually, it's all about our physical and mental health and also about reducing traffic."
Graham Merrigan, disability advocate, also spoke to Andrea Gilligan on the show and shared how he had never fallen out of his wheelchair until this summer.
He shared: "I was telling friends I'd gone two or three years without coming out of my chair when walking the dog, but this year alone, I've come out maybe two or three times.
"And that's just because there's cracks in the footpaths and the front wheel of my manual wheelchair, the caster wheel, just gets stuck in the footpath crack.
"Then I'm having a slow motion fall out of my chair. Thankfully, I'm not falling with any impact, but I wear a seatbelt in my chair and my dog is by my side and I fall out just slow motion.
"Then you're just getting into a panic and your seatbelt's still on and you're trying to get out and you're making sure, as well, that nobody saw you fall because of mortification."
While Graham only suffered a few scratches on the back of his hand, as he used it to break his fall, it was pointed out how people in and out of wheelchairs could be seriously injured as a result of the poor footpaths.
Mr Merrigan added that the fear of falling out of their chair and the need for extra awareness, can isolate people as they will choose to not leave the house rather than try and tackle the journey.
One issue highlighted during the conversation was the fact that utility companies are digging them up all over the place and "not reinstating them".
Ms Hopkins continued: "So you could have the council spending money on a footpath one day and the next day, Irish Water [or some other company]... you'd fear somebody's there digging them up."
Main image: File photo of cracks in a pavement. Pic: Catherine Paffey / Alamy
