The hosts of the previous Erasmus+ Generations Cycling for Inclusion and Climate Action project trips that Irish Cycling Campaign took part in set incredibly high standards with their stimulating programmes and by looking after their guests so well, so we were a little nervous in ICC in devising a Dublin programme that could match the quality of the previous ones. We were keen to ensure that everyone had rich and educational experiences of our capital city and surrounds.

But with the help of many fabulous volunteers from ICC – and, in particular, members of our Local Group, Dublin Cycling Campaign – we assembled a diverse programme that responded to the four big themes of the project: climate action, sustainable transport, social inclusion and intergenerational collaborations. 

In this article, four of our active volunteers – Damien, Allison, Phil and Hugh – each provide a summary of the four core days of the programme, with further inputs and photographs shared by other ICC members.

There are many to thank for their support with the programme, but we wish to pay a special thanks to the Lord Mayor of Dublin, James Geoghegan, for his warm welcome to the city, and also to the staff of Dublin City Council for the loan of their Cycling Without Age trishaw which made a massive difference in terms of making our events fully inclusive for all of the Erasmus participants.

Friday 11 Oct [Damien Ó Tuama and Allison Roberts]

The Tailors’ Hall Session
The Dublin leg kicked off in the lovely Tailors’ Hall on Back Lane after the visitors walked (and wheeled) their way over from the Generator Hostel on Smithfield Square where the group of 45 persons stayed.   

Mairéad Forsythe, Chairperson of Irish Cycling Campaign, gave the formal welcome on behalf of ICC. She was followed by ICC’s National Cycling Coordinator, Damien Ó Tuama, who shared some of the history of the 300+ year old Tailors’ Hall, and introduced the group to the work of An Taisce and Irish Cycling Campaign. He also gave the group some insights into what’s happening with the Active Travel plans in Dublin City, and into the latest news on the development of the capital’s cycle facilities (as shown on the map below, kindly provided by the City Council).

Hugh and Chifly with the latest iteration of the Dublin City Cycle Network map

Following this local scene setting, each of the six partner organisations who had travelled to Dublin gave a mini-update on the latest news from their cities and towns.  

Students from IES Alhama introducing their school and the latest news from Corella

Crucial to any visitor landing into Ireland is getting a grasp of the local lingo, and Hugh Raftery from Dublin Cycling Campaign shared some essential Hiberno-English phrases and descriptors of the Irish weather as shown here.

Hugh with the first of his posters listing the essential descriptors for the types of rainy conditions that students might encounter on their trip

The morning session concluded with two very interesting presentations which responded squarely to two of the overarching themes of the project.

Firstly, Przemek and Greg from Merchants Quay Ireland spoke to the students and the teachers about the work their organisation does. In essence, Merchants Quay Ireland, a registered charity that supports people affected by homelessness and addiction, offers food, advice, health care, mental health support and addiction services. It offers accessible and effective services in a non-judgemental and compassionate way. 

The second mini-workshop was delivered by Solene from Voice, an Irish environmental charity that empowers individuals and local communities to take positive action to conserve our natural resources. Solene, pictured below, is working on the ”Fabric of Change” project, which is all about helping consumers understand the impact of their clothing choices on the environment, and empowering them to make more sustainable decisions. The attendees certainly came away from her session with a much clearer understanding of how fashion is one of the most polluting industries worldwide, creating major social and environmental issues.  

Solene Schirrer from Voice

A Walking Tour of the City with Alita
Irish Cycling Campaign was thrilled to have Alita Rivero to lead the walking tour of Dublin City. Alita is an Argentinian Dubliner who produced and edited the monthly Dublin Cycling Campaign newsletter for almost 10 years, and has a wonderful knowledge of the lanes and lore of the city. The group sampled many slices of the city as shown in some of the photos below. 

Alita Rivera (on the right) leading the walking tour at St. Patrick’s Park – Photo Credit – Biciclistas De Corella

The walking tour included a quick visit to Drury Street Bicycle Parking Facility – Photo Credit – Biciclistas De Corella

A mini-stop on the Millennium Bridge – Photo Credit – Biciclistas De Corella

The trishaw and Bloomin Crumlin’s e-cargo bike made everything easier for our tour around the city – Photo Credit – Biciclistas De Corella

Dinner in Blas Café (Allison)
We gathered at the Blas café (located in an old chocolate factory!) for our evening dinner, and were greeted with Irish tunes played by Brendan (on the uilleann pipes) and Joe (on guitar) – as pictured below. Hassan, our host and chef, put out canapes of little breads with beetroot hummus and then a buffet for us all to dig in. Everyone was hungry! The potatoes, chickpeas and salad (and chicken for the meat lovers) were all delicious, as were the dips, yoghurt and jalapeno. Definitely worth a visit if you haven’t been there! See https://www.blascafe.ie/. 

Joe and Brendan entertaining the guests

A live sample from the session – Footage kindly provided by Karen Keogh from Newtown School

After dinner, we headed back to the Generator Hostel, where Ari and I were able to bunk in with Libya and Aroa, teachers from the Estella team. 

Hugh and Damien receiving home grown melons from villa Maria and other edible gifts from Corella! 

Saturday 12 Oct – Cycle Tour to Howth via Mud Island & Bull Island Nature Reserve [Allison]

On Saturday we woke early and enjoyed a buffet breakfast in the basement of the Generator hostel. Ari & I had brought up Clon Bike Fest t-towels which we had just enough for all the teachers and adults 🙂  

Clockwise from front left – Ari, Chifly, Margarida, Edmundo, Tono and Cristina

At 9am we headed outside where rental bikes arrived from Irish Cycling Safaris (thanks Marion!) and River Cycles (thank you Paul!). The students and teachers chose their bikes and took a lap of the square to check the fit and brakes! Between the crew staying at the Generator Hostel and the 15+ Irish Cycling Campaign marshals, we had a full team of around 60 of us on bikes ready for the trip. Ari & I opted to marshall the rear of the bike convoy, along with Paul Corcoran from ICC on his cargo bike.

A brief encounter with Luke Kelly en route! – Photo – Biciclistas de Corella

Alita from Dublin Cycling Campaign – Photo – Biciclistas de Corella

We wove our way east alongside the Liffey and navigated lots of traffic lights, buses and drivers. When we reached the Convention Centre, we headed north towards our first stop at Mud Island Community Gardens. We spent about two hours at the gardens, looking around and learning about the project and the various wild herbs there as well as all around Ireland – from the importance of beauty and roses in treating shock (they were used as decoration for post-traumatic stress centers post war for soldiers), to alder as an important anti-bacterial, nettles as an important activator for the lymphatic system, and plantain as the best cure for nettle stings and good for healing wounds and digestive health!

Ari and I are still talking about the man who gave us the tour (Aaron Foley) and how he rubbed nettles all over his arms saying “they are only painful because we have been taught to think that” while he was covered in stings! After we got back to Clonakilty, Ari got a bunch of nettle stings and tried out the “it doesn’t really hurt it only tingles” tactic and it seemed to work!  

Aaron Foley explains the importance of biodiversity in our world – Photo by Allison

Playtime in Mud Island with Danielle and Snoobles (Photo by Denis)

We learnt that the Mud Island Community garden was on an old dumping ground and only after years of appeals to the Council was it handed over to become a community garden. It now thrives as a social and inclusive space run completely by volunteers. After the tour, we had a load of sandwiches delivered from the nearby Cloud Café and set off then to continue onwards on our cycle.

We headed north along the City Centre to Clontarf cycle route and then onto the coastal cycleway. This was a great easy and flat cycle – with one good downpour that soaked us all but then the sun came straight out again! Next stop was Bull Island – an area of particular national importance for its dunes and biodiversity. We were very grateful to have with us Karin Dubsky, the Coordinator of Coastwatch Ireland, and Dave Tilly, a very knowledgeable local man with a particular understanding of how the intertidal zone functions and changes. So many birds and other creatures depend on the dunes there for food and nesting.

Ari and I had to then cut our visit short and we made our way for the last few kilometres to Howth for a Dart to Tara Street, and then cycled back west along the Liffey, and onto the train back to Cork!

Bull Island sea shells – Photo – Biciclistas de Corella

En route on the coastal cycleway – Photo Credit – Biciclistas De Corella

Photo Credit – Damien Ó Tuama

Meanwhile the rest of the Erasmus gang finished up their tour with Karin and David, and made their way to Howth for fish and chips at Wrights of Howth. After the bikes were collected, the crew continued their multi-modal day’s journeys by DART back to the city and then by foot (and tram) to the Generator.  

A big thanks from Irish Cycling Campaign to all of our marshals who helped out over the course of the day. They were: Alina, Alita, Allison, Ciarán, Damien, Deirdre, Denis, Hugh, Mairéad, María, Patrick, Paul, Phil, Rory and Siobhán. 

Sunday 13 Oct – Wicklow Day [Phil]

Nine AM was our pick-up time to be brought by coach to visit Beyond the Trees in the Avondale Estate in Co. Wicklow. The morning was overcast and pretty cold for a mid October day, so being well wrapped up was a good call.

Avondale House and Estate is the birthplace of Irish independence pioneer, Charles Stuart Parnell. It is also the home of Samuel Hayes, a man ahead of his time. Not only did he write Ireland’s first book devoted to trees, but he also realised that the native forests of Ireland were disappearing. He knew the solution was in afforestation and managing woodlands, so he set about creating a forest park on his land. After nearly 300 years since Hayes’ time, many of the trees survive today and are in a healthy and mature state. It’s through this forest where a 1.4km long treetop walk and viewing tower has recently been built and where we began our guided tour.

Photo – Phil Murray

Beautifully constructed from locally sourced wood, the treetop walk has a gentle gradient but at its peak is 23 metres off the forest floor. It’s designed to be fully accessible for all ages and abilities. One of the elderly members of our party who has mobility issues availed of a wheelchair provided by the guide.

As we made our way along we were told stories of the history of the estate as well as the forest and wildlife. Bats were found living in the attic of the estate house during renovations. As a protected species, provision was made to allow the bats to easily get in and out via small openings in the sloped roof. We also learned of the reintroduction of birds of prey such as the red kite and the return of the red squirrel – the native Irish squirrel that was pushed out by the invasive grey squirrel. It is believed that the hunting skills of the pinemartins have reduced grey squirrel numbers and thus allowed the red squirrel to regain its territory.

At the end of the walkway we arrived at the spectacular 38m high viewing tower. This huge and impressive structure – like the walkway – used locally sourced timber and was accessed by a gently sloping walk-way. 11 levels up to the top and we were met with a beautiful autumnal view of the local Avondale forest, rolling green fields and distant mountain peaks. Wicklow’s highest peak at 950m, Lugnaquilla was easily visible in a north-western direction.

Photo – Phil Murray

There were two options to descend the tower: take the walkway eleven levels down, or else take a high-speed (13 second long) option via a stainless steel tube slide. Needless to say, almost our entire group took the slide including our eldest and least mobile member. Some of the younger members took the slide a few times.

Photo – Phil Murray

Following a delicious lunch on site, a group of us went on a one-hour walk around the grounds. Taking us through mature forests, past an old train line and along the banks of the Avondale River it was a fitting end to a highly enjoyable day immersed in nature.

Aroa, Libia and Phil – Photo Credit – Biciclistas De Corella

The day did not end with the Wicklow trip though. After getting back to the Generator, the crew headed to upstairs in Slattery’s on Capel Street  for some traditional grub, Dublin style. After the day outdoors and all the walking, their food went down well. 

Monday 14 Oct – Lord Mayor’s Reception / Further City Explorations [Hugh]

Our final day kicked off with a visit to the Mansion House in Dublin and to meet James Geoghegan, the 356th Lord Mayor of Dublin. In what has now become an annual tradition, the Dublin Cycling Campaign presented the Lord Mayor with a bicycle for use over his term of office – see the separate Dublin Cycling Campaign story on this here. The group were delighted to get the chance to meet him outside the Mansion House.

Photo – Dublin Cycling Campaign 

Photo – Dublin Cycling Campaign 

We were welcomed into the Oak Room of the Mansion House, with an extended meeting with the Lord Mayor. He told us about the history of the Lord Mayor’s office. We then presented him with some gifts from Spain and Poland.  

Photo – Courtesy of Dublin City Council

Lord Mayor of Dublin, James Geoghegan, addressing the Erasmus guests

A symbolic gift from Corella – Photo Credit – Biciclistas De Corella

While in the Oak Room, we had a “Science Buzz” presentation by Michael Grehan. Michael is a Science Teacher from Belvedere College Dublin, and he demonstrated how physics is key to getting around by bicycle and to exploring the world around us. His demonstration was a real treat for both the teachers and the students. 

Michael Grehan demonstrating the gyroscopic effect! Photo – Carlos Isaba

In the afternoon, the teachers and adults met in the café of the National Gallery for the Coordinators meeting of the Generations Cycling for Inclusion and Climate Action project, while the students had some free time to explore the city further. Later in the afternoon then, we gathered at Foster Place for a Bike Disco organised by An Taisce to celebrate Climate Action Week, and the students had a chance to participate on a multi-person bike bus as shown below. 

Photo Credit – Biciclistas De Corella

End of the Bike Disco outside of the offices of An Taisce on Foster Place – Photo – An Taisce

The four day / five night Learning / Teaching / Training trip finished up that night in the Generator Hostel with the awarding of certificates to all of the hard working participants, and with singing and mingling running late into the night.  

In Conclusion

Over the course of the four full days, participants engaged with each of the overarching themes of the project: climate action, sustainable transport, social inclusion and intergenerational collaborations. ICC hopes that the activities undertaken will spur both students and adults to explore and act on these topics in greater depth over the coming years.

Another benefit was, of course, in forging stronger bonds and friendships between all of the project partners. It was a pleasure for ICC to host and to reconnect with our friends from Spain, Portugal, Poland, Waterford and beyond! We are already looking forward to travelling to Estella in Navarra in 2025 for the final Learning / Teaching / Training trip. 

Irish Cycling Campaign wishes to thank our volunteers for their help with organising multiple aspects of the planning and execution of the programme – and particularly all of our marshals assisting on the group cycle on the Saturday. Thanks also to Dublin Cycling Campaigner Miren-Maialen Samper, who herself is from San Sebastian Donostia, who popped along over the course of the few days to welcome the crew in several languages. 

Finally, we wish to pay a sincere thanks again to the Lord Mayor of Dublin, James Geoghegan, for his warm welcome to the Mansion House, and indeed to Dublin City Council’s staff for their support with many elements of the trip. 

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Note

A summary video on the whole trip assembled by Biclistas de Corella can be viewed here: 

More photos on the trip are available within:

• the Biciclistas de Corella Facebook page – https://www.facebook.com/BiciclistasdeCorella
• this Google Photos album

Links to stories on the previous trips and project website:

• Corella (Spain), April 2023 – https://cyclist.ie/2023/06/cyclist-ie-in-corella-2023/ 
• Waterford, June 2023 – https://cyclist.ie/2023/07/erasmus-trip-to-waterford-2023/
• Azambuja (Portugal), October 2023 – https://cyclist.ie/2023/10/cyclist-ie-in-azambuja-2023/ 
• Poland, June 2024 – https://cyclist.ie/2024/07/irish-cycling-campaign-in-wodzislaw-slaski-erasmus-project/ 

Official project website: 
https://www.erasmuscyclingschools.com/ 

Chifly and Hugh – Photo Credit – Biciclistas De Corella