Dublin City Council celebrated International Women’s Day 2025 with a cycling theme. On Thursday 6th March in the Generator Hostel on Smithfield Square, they screened the Saudi Arabian film, Wadjda, about a 10-year-old girl who wants to buy a bike to race her friend Abdullah. In this article Miren Maialen from Dublin Cycling Campaign’s Executive Committee reports back on the evening.

First and foremost, it was a really enjoyable occasion attending the film screening and the panel discussion. The film itself is about a 10-year-old girl who wants to buy a bike to race her friend, but Wadjda’s mother refuses, fearing repercussions from Saudi society.

After the film, there was a great debate exploring the wider barriers to cycling that panelists have experienced and overcome, and examining how we can all encourage and empower more girls and women to cycle. The panel was chaired by Siobhán McNamara, Vice-Chair of Dublin Cycling Campaign, and it included Catríona Nally, from Ballymun Youth Action Project and Recovery Road Cycling Club, and Josephine Healion, Paralympic Cyclist and World Championship medal winner, as well as Jannatul, a new cyclist from Bangladesh who participated in Dublin City Council’s adult cycle training. 

It was really great to listen to all of the participants in the panel.

Siobhán, who chaired the discussions, highlighted the positive work being undertaken by Irish Cycling Campaign, with their local branch the Dublin Cycling Campaign advocating for better infrastructure for cycling and, more generally, for making Dublin a great city for cycling for all ages and abilities. 

Jannatul explained how important it was for her to learn how to cycle, particularly in terms of the freedom it gives her and, simply, for the pure enjoyment of cycling.

It was great to hear from Caitríona about the initiatives for her community and how it is bringing positive change and how the women in her local community are enjoying the cycling; and to hear from Josephine from the perspective of a vision impaired athlete – she competes in the women’s tandem events on both the track and the road. There was a packed audience there and great discussions around the main themes raised. 

As mentioned at the event, if you are interested in adult cycle training, please get in touch with Dublin City by email (to [email protected]) any time.

Photos above kindly provided by Miren Maialen.