Bethan Collins - profile

 Bethan is beginning her third season presenting Audioscope.  "I'm looking forward to the new season," she says, "it's always so varied with so many interesting people.  I'm excited about some of the ideas for this series."  

Recently, Bethan presented "Three-60" a television series about disability and how the world in which we live supports disabled people, or not, as the case may be.  She was also featured in "From the Outside In" on RTE 1 in December 2003. 

Bethan is very involved in disability issues, including those which affect blind and visually impaired people.  She is a director of Irish BlindSports and Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind, as well as being involved in other organisations.  Bethan enjoys sports such as water-skiing, skiing, swimming, yoga and tandem cycling, and is one of the founder members of "Tandem Cycling Ireland". 
A BSc graduate from Trinity College, Dublin, Bethan is an occupational therapist, currently doing her PhD and teaching in the School of Occupational Therapy, Trinity College Dublin. 

Bethan has always been visually impaired, and her degenerative eye-condition, means her sight deteriorated over the years. She says: "I think that I was brought up as a sighted person, who just happened not to be able to see, and threw myself into getting involved in anything and everything. Now, I don't have much useful vision, I love braille, and wish it were more widespread. Technology is also very important in enabling me to do what I want and need to do, but nothing will ever beat a human reader! I believe that being blind is just a part of my personality, like any other part."

But, as has been said before, Nikki, Bethan's guide dog is really the sometimes silent star of the show.