The story of the Companies Accessibility Network (CAN) began at an AHEAD Ireland event in 2019, where representatives from Dell Technologies, ESB, and Bank of Ireland were all actively hiring people with disabilities, yet each company expected candidates to tailor their approach to suit the individual organisation. The representatives got together and asked themselves why not change their own approach instead, and learn from one another in the process?
From that conversation, CAN was formed; a network of large companies operating in Ireland, committed to equal opportunities for people with disabilities, and dedicated to sharing experience and best practice across organisations.
Attendees at the most recent CAN event in Bank of Ireland
The likes of NTMA, Vodafone, EY Ireland and the Central Bank of Ireland were due to come to Dell Technologies’ offices in Cherrywood to form the first event. I was lucky enough to be involved with the early planning for it, and we picked an absolutely brilliant date to launch it – the 27th of March 2020 – the day Ireland went into lockdown due to Covid-19!! So everything was put on hold, and we had to shelve the idea while we all got to grips with a changing workplace landscape.
As organisations settled into remote working, CAN reconvened online with ESB and Bank of Ireland, who hosted these virtual sessions.
The NTMA hosted the first in-person meeting in 2022, with Employers for Change delivering their excellent training for the group. That event gave the network real momentum. Since then, NTMA, ESB, CPL, and Bank of Ireland have each hosted network meetings in their offices, with the next host chosen by mutual agreement at the end of every meeting.
I co-hosted the CAN meeting with CPL back in September 2025, where we learnt about the European Accessibility Act and how companies were implementing it. There are now 15-20 companies represented within CAN.
The next CAN meeting will return to Dell Technologies in Cherrywood on the 16th of April 2026. Topics discussed will be: supporting hiring managers to better assist employees with disabilities, and the practicalities of creating accessible workplaces — the challenges of retrofitting existing buildings and designing new environments to universal design standards.