Enniskillen: Blind girl travels 140 miles for accessible cinema screening

Eryn, who lives near Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, said her family had to travel to the Odeon cinema in Belfast over Easter as their local cinema, IMC Cinemas Enniskillen, did not offer audio description headsets.

Eryn had hoped to see The Magic Faraway Tree closer to home, but after contacting several venues, her family discovered the Belfast cinema was the only option.

“A long way to travel just to watch a movie,” she said.

“It was extremely disappointing that the closest local cinemas couldn’t cater for blind and visually impaired people.

“Sighted people just take this for granted because they can go and watch movies, whereas blind people can’t.”

“We rely on audio description because you can’t pick up the whole atmosphere through sound alone,” she added.

Despite the long journey, Eryn said she enjoyed the movie and the audio description gave her “a better understanding of what was happening than just the sound”.

She said more cinemas should offer audio description so people who are blind and visually impaired can enjoy the cinema experience like everyone else.