Mondello Park in Co Kildare is playing host to a unique event this week, where people who are blind and visually impaired are being given the chance to drive with the help of some of the county's top rally drivers.
Vision Sports Ireland say the event helps to change perceptions about visual impairment.
Among the first to take to the track was 19-year-old Grace Muldowney from Wicklow, who said that driving the car had helped her to realise an impossible dream.
She discovered at 14 that she could not drive because of her visual impairment - and said that the news was "quite a hit". But the experience of driving a car today left her feeling healed.
"It’s like a dream come true. I didn't expect to be so in control of the car. It was the best part."
"Honestly, I thought I was going to get a bit more of a tutorial but it was just straight into it.
"And no one held me back which was really nice.
"When you’re driving around a bend and you can’t see the bend coming - yeah, that’s a bit scary! But other than that there was no fear."
'Floating through it'
"The fact that the guy beside me wasn’t stressed, he was as chill, which was an amazing, secure feeling."
"Everything was grey and green and I couldn’t decipher it too much, but he would kind of just tell me where to turn, and then after doing it a few times you kind of just started to remember the turns, and it felt like you were floating through it."
"This meant the world. It felt like a once in a lifetime opportunity. Like, truly, it felt like a little bit of me was healed getting in behind a car and not being held back.
"No one told me I couldn’t do it and I felt like I could do it."
Rally drivers have volunteered their time and their vehicles to facilitate the event, which is now in its fourth year.
Participants first drive a dual controlled car with the assistance of the rally driver before being taken out as a passenger in their rally cars.
'Wanting to go faster!'
Katie Megahey, a 41-year-old from Belfast, was led to the car by her guide dog Kris.
She has never before been behind the wheel of a car and said that the experience was both scary and brilliant.
"It was scary to start off with, and then it was brilliant the more I got off. Just really interesting you know, you have to really concentrate."
During one lap, Katie mounted the grass verge. But did the slightly bumpy ride put her off?
"No I was loving it. I was wanting to go faster!"
Eileen Battersby from Chapelizod in Dublin said being control of the car was an amazing experience.
"The power! You could feel you were actually moving this thing you know. It was just amazing. There’s no other words for it."
Aaron Mullaniff, CEO of Vision Sports Ireland, said that the event helps change perceptions about visual impairment.
"We’re trying to challenge public perceptions about visual impairment and blindness.
"The reality is about 95% of people who are accessing the services of Vision Ireland and Vision Sport Ireland have some useful or residual vision.
"5% of those who use our service are blind, and I think there are some misconceptions out there that the majority of people can’t see anything - but the reality is vision impairment or sight loss is a spectrum and people see many many things."
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