First day back at school

Deane Roundabout (junction of Western Distributor Road & Seamus Quirke Road) clogged with motorised traffic as children return to school on a dry sunny morning.

Child cycling 3 km to primary school cannot cross the road because the useless uncontrolled crossings are blocked by cars. A large sign names the agencies responsible for this recent project: Galway City Council; European Regional Development Fund; Department of Transport, Tourism & Sport; Border, Midland & Western Regional Authority; National Roads Authority; Hyder Tobin Consultants.

28th August 2014

Irish Posts

The race we don’t want to win: Tackling Ireland’s obesity epidemic

28 Sep '14 John Dawson Leave a comment

Two out of every three adults and one in four children in Ireland are overweight or obese. In addition to the many serious health impacts, obesity also has a significant negative economic impact, costing the Irish state an estimated €1.13 billion in 2009. Continue reading The race we don’t want to win: Tackling Ireland’s obesity epidemic →

UK Posts

Commuting by walking or cycling ‘can boost mental wellbeing’

26 Sep '14 John Dawson Leave a comment

New research on walking and cycling supports NICE recommendations that active travel can help boost mental wellbeing.

Researchers, publishing in the journal Preventive Medicine, found that people who walked or cycled to work benefitted from improved mental wellbeing in comparison with those who travelled by car. Read article

From The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) provides national guidance and advice to improve health and social care.

UK Posts

Chris Boardman: ‘This is the biggest opportunity cycling is going to have’

24 Sep '14 John Dawson Leave a comment

The cyclist-turned advocate is addressing the Labour and Conservative conferences on why the UK needs more bikes

Chris Boardman is best known for riding and making bikes. But this morning he was instead talking about bikes, and in an unusual setting: the Labour party conference in Manchester. Read article

Dublin

A day in the life of a Dublin bike

20 Sep '14 John Dawson Leave a comment

Five years ago, if you commuted to work and wanted to go from Dublin’s IFSC to Grafton Street’s Brown Thomas during your lunchbreak, you would have had very little browsing time, even if you had travelled by taxi. – See more

UK Posts

Cycling MLA of the Year 2014

20 Sep '14 John Dawson Leave a comment

The Northern Ireland Assembly witnessed an unprecedented rise of the bicycle onto the political agenda in 2013-14. Even the expected boost from the Giro d’Italia couldn’t mask an emergence of everyday cycling issues being promoted by more politicians than ever before. But could anyone unseat the DUP’s Peter Weir as the 2-time reigning, defending Cycling MLA of the Year? Read more

Dublin

Parking Day

19 Sep '14 John Dawson Leave a comment

Parking Day is turning car parking spaces into public parks, games or art installations for one day every year in September. Park(ing) Day is intended to promote creativity, civic engagement, critical thinking, unscripted social interactions, generosity and play.

UK Posts

Cambridge University launches lorry safety scheme to protect cyclists and pedestrians

15 Sep '14 John Dawson Leave a comment

A major safety scheme to protect cyclists and pedestrians from lorries in the city launches today.

All contractors working for Cambridge University are being asked to make safety improvements to their vehicles and to provide additional staff training.

The initiative will run on a voluntary basis for one year and will become compulsory in new contracts from the second, with penalties set to be levied for non-compliance.

Read article