Charlie Smith

Charlie worked in the Department of Employment and hotel trade in England. When he moved to Ireland in 1999, he worked as a social worker in the Irish Wheelchair Association in Killarney. He then became his mother’s full time official carer. On her death, he found work as a receptionist/office worker at the community centre in Cahersiveen. 

Charlie has been a member of several disability organisations in Kerry, along with the employment board of the South Kerry Partnership before he moved to Tralee. He has also been on the local committee for public transport in County Kerry with special responsibility for disabled people. He was on a committee run by the Tralee Partnership for people starting up in self-employed businesses before Covid-19. He is an advocate for polio survivors and people with disabilities in general, with an insight into the unique problems for people with a disability living in a rural community, such as transport and social isolation.

Charlie became a member of Polio Survivors Ireland in 1999. He was elected to the Board in 2020 and serves on the Finance & Audit Sub-Committee of the Board.