All posts by damien.otuama

Executive Committee 2023-2024

This page here shows the composition of the Irish Cycling Campaign Executive Committee for the year of 2024, following on from its Annual General Meeting held on 29 February 2024!

The refreshed Executive Committee included some members who were part of the previous EC (that ran from late 2021 to early 2024), but it also brought in three new faces – Sinéad Halpin (Cork), Kevin Jennings (Galway) and Vinnie Wall (Cork).

Neasa Bheilbigh (Galway Cycling Campaign)


I have been the Chairperson of Irish Cycling Campaign for the last two years (plus). I am also a member of the Galway Cycling Campaign and the Galway Cycle Bus. I have seen the impact active travel can have on children’s physical, social and emotional well-being and am passionate about creating an environment in which children can travel to school safely and independently. I see cycling advocacy as something that should be inclusive and believe strongly that those of all ages and abilities should be enabled to cycle. I have two young children and we love getting around town and going on adventures on our cargo bike.

Dave Tobin (Limerick Cycling Campaign)

I am the current Public Relations Officer of Limerick Cycling Campaign. I am a primary school teacher in a suburban Limerick school, and also act as treasurer and board member for the Northside Family Resource Centre in Moyross, Limerick. Additionally, I currently represent the environmental pillar of the Limerick PPN on the Limerick Local Community Development Committee (LCDC). I have a strong focus on social inclusion both in terms of prioritising infrastructure projects in our city communities that have been historically left behind, and also ensuring that voices from all sections of our community are integral to the work of our group.

Dave Anderson (Navan Cycling Initiative)

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I am a founding member and Secretary of Navan Cycling Initiative and have played a key role organising events, creating maps and encouraging the cycling ecosystem. While new to cycling advocacy, I have been a keen cyclist for a number of years, though I draw the line at wearing lycra. In my day job, I am a freelance software product consultant, and have a background in IT and software development.

Will Andrews (Dublin Cycling Campaign)

Will is a dyed-in-the-wool Dub who started commuting by bike in Dublin in 1983. An architect from East Wall, he was honoured to serve as chair of Dublin Cycling Campaign from 2009 to 2012. 

He’s worked on training kids and adults in confident cycling, helping engage HGV drivers in structured training that increased their empathy for cyclists, and has run bike parades and ride-outs. Will has a keen interest in cities that are vibrant and sustainable and, as part of an M.Sc. course on ‘Urban Environment’ in UCD’s School of Geography, studied the public health impacts of the proposed permanent Liffey Cycle Route, finding them to potentially offer savings in health costs of over €200 million. 

Jo Sachs-Eldridge (Leitrim Cycling Festival)

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I started Leitrim Cycling Festival to celebrate bicycles and communities and to find other people who also think cycling might be the answer to so many questions. I’m so pleased to have discovered this proactive, committed, growing group of cycling advocates – it makes change seem much more possible. Before I returned home to Leitrim I worked as a Transport Planner in the UK where I specialised in active travel and believe asking the right people the right questions (and really listening!) is the key to the development of good quality, useful routes. 

Sinéad Halpin (Cork Cycling Campaign)

I am a native of Cork City’s northside, currently living and cycling in Mayfield. I am a mum of two and can be seen with them on the back of my long tail cargo bike on the way to their school and then onto my own work as a second level teacher. I have been cycling regularly since getting my first bike in early 2020. I became involved with the Cork Cycling Campaign and I’ve been active in organising and taking part in events for the past few years. My specific interest is in advocating for cycling infrastructure for the people of the city and country that have been left without it, the traditionally more marginalised and the under-represented. 

Kevin Jennings (Galway Cycling Campaign) 

I have been active in cycling advocacy fairly intensely for the past five years, having been inspired to take action by seeing my now friends in the Galway CycleBus. I’ve served as chairperson of Galway Cycling Campaign for three busy years from July 2019. I’ve gone through the stages of seeing our roads with the eyes of a confident cycler, as a companion of a cycler carrying a child, having children on the back of the bike or in trailers and having children cycling alongside us. My eldest child (12) now cycles to some of his sporting events and is ready to go alone. I’m worried sick. I’m learning to see the world from the perspective of disabled people, older people or carers but there’s no substitute for lived experience.

Vinnie Wall (Cork)

I’m a consultant anaesthesiologist working in Cork having returned from Paris. I’m hugely passionate about movement from a health perspective and would argue that getting into a car every day is a wasted health opportunity. You were born to move! I’ve been an active cycle advocate in the past and pushed the Cork hospital cycleway in 2020 and I’m a member of Irish Doctors for the Environment and I’ve done a diploma in public health. The number of road deaths in Ireland is unacceptable and I believe road violence is a public health emergency.

Damien Ó Tuama (National Cycling Coordinator)

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While not an elected member of the Executive Committee, our National Cycling Coordinator supports and works closely with the Irish Cycling Campaign’s EC.

Damien has held the Irish Cycling Campaign (formerly Cyclist.ie) National Cycling Coordinator post since 2013, a position shared with An Taisce. His current focus is in supporting Irish Cycling Campaign’s 30+ Local Groups and advancing the goals of our strategy. He worked in the transportation space for over 20 years, and completed his doctoral research exploring transitions in mobility systems in 2015 (in Trinity College Dublin).

Damien is currently also an Evaluator and Steering Committee member for research projects under the EPA Research Programme Annual Call under the pillars of Climate and Sustainability. He spent five years on the board of the European Cyclists’ Federation (2016-2021), and in 2020 was appointed to the board of Transport Infrastructure Ireland following a Public Appointments Service process. Damien enjoys music, gigs, DIY and adventures!

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Details of the 2021-23 Executive Committee can be found here.

Irish Cycling Campaign Urges Immediate Action Amid Rising Road Fatalities

Irish Cycling Campaign delivered the press release below on Wednesday 01 January 2025 following yet another grim year of road traffic collisions and casualties.

Irish Cycling Campaign Urges Immediate Action Amid Rising Road Fatalities and Pushes for Investment in Safe Active Travel Infrastructure

PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE USE

The Irish Cycling Campaign is gravely concerned at the rising number of road fatalities in Ireland, particularly among vulnerable road users such as cyclists, pedestrians, and e-scooter users. As of December 31st, 2024, 178 people have died on Irish roads – a grim continuation of last year’s trends. Vulnerable road users, including pedestrians (39 deaths), cyclists (11 deaths), e-scooter users (4 deaths), and motorcyclists (17 deaths), account for approximately 39% of the total road fatalities. These statistics do not take into account the impact of the many serious injuries caused by road collisions.

This past week alone has seen multiple fatalities involving hit-and-run incidents where vulnerable road users have been victims, reflecting a broader crisis of accountability and enforcement on Irish roads. These tragic incidents underscore the urgent need for structural changes to ensure greater road safety for all road users. Systemic change is needed through more sustainable transport, the design of roads and streets, through stricter enforcement of traffic laws, and through evidence-based educational campaigns. Over the past 15 years, Garda National Roads Policing Bureau staffing has declined by over 50% in some counties, reaching critically low levels. Between 2023 and 2024 alone, there was a net reduction of 154 frontline Gardaí across the network of nearly 570 Garda stations. This significant decline severely undermines the enforcement of traffic laws and the deterrence of dangerous driving behaviours.

Recent judicial decisions have raised concerns about the enforcement of traffic laws in Ireland. In December 2024, Judge Andrew Cody dismissed over 30 speeding cases in Portlaoise District Court, criticising the fairness of the speed zone in question, ignoring the reality of a number of road deaths in the Portlaoise area in recent years. Similarly, in September 2024, a driver caught exceeding 120 kmph avoided disqualification after a judge ruled the speeding was unintentional. Such rulings undermine efforts to deter dangerous driving behaviours, ignore a robust road safety evidence base, and compromise road safety at a time when we need the judiciary to fulfill their role in keeping our roads safe.

The Campaign welcomes the upcoming reform of the Road Safety Authority (RSA) and the planned replacement of the RSA with two new agencies. This reform is urgently needed. The Campaign is calling on government to ensure that the road safety advocacy remit is underpinned with well-resourced expertise in sustainable transport and public health.

Neasa Bheilbigh, Chairperson of the Irish Cycling Campaign, stated: “Vulnerable road users make up nearly 40% of all fatalities on Irish roads this year. This is a shocking and unacceptable statistic that demands immediate action. The government has a responsibility to protect the most vulnerable people on our roads. We know what works: safe and segregated infrastructure for walking and cycling, robust enforcement of traffic laws, and investment in public transport. It’s time for our leaders to act decisively.”

Dave Tobin, Vice Chairperson of the Irish Cycling Campaign, added: “Fianna Fail and Fine Gael are now drafting a new Programme for Government. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to prioritise active travel and improve safety for vulnerable road users. We are calling for at least 20% of the transport budget to be allocated to walking and cycling as recommended by the UN to save lives, reverse pollution and reduce carbon emissions. This level of investment would save lives, while creating more liveable towns and cities. Safe infrastructure is not just a luxury – it’s a necessity.”

With a new Programme for Government currently being developed between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, the Irish Cycling Campaign calls for:

  1. Safe and Segregated Active Travel Infrastructure:
    Properly funding and prioritising active travel infrastructure is crucial. The Campaign urges the government to allocate at least 20% of the national transport budget for walking and cycling, alongside significant investment in public transport solutions to help reduce car traffic on our roads. This commitment would align with international best practices and support the government’s climate and safety goals. Investment in active travel makes our roads safer for all road users, improves public health, reduces traffic congestion, and reduces air and noise pollution.
  2. Engineering-First Solutions:
    Infrastructure changes, including protected cycle lanes, improved pedestrian crossings, and better road design, must be prioritised as the most effective way to prevent road deaths and injuries by reducing driver collisions.
  3. Enhanced Traffic Policing Resources:
    Immediate restoration and strengthening of Garda Roads Policing staffing is necessary to ensure laws are enforced and dangerous behaviours are deterred.
  4. Strong Political Will:
    The government must use the upcoming Programme for Government to commit to a sustainable, safe, and equitable transport system. Relevant expertise and streamlined processes at local authority level is required for urgent delivery of safer roads in our communities. This should also include expediting the delivery of revised speed limits.
  5. Road Safety Authority Reform:
    Any new entity tasked with road safety advocacy and education must take a systems-wide approach and be resourced with the relevant expertise to help ensure the delivery of engineering solutions, enforcement and behavioural change measures to tackle the causes of injury and death on our roads.

The Irish Cycling Campaign emphasises that road deaths and injuries are not inevitable; they are preventable. Properly funding and designing a transport system that protects vulnerable road users must be at the core of government policy. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reverse the devastating trends on Ireland’s roads and create a safer, greener, and more liveable country for everyone.

ENDS

The Irish Cycling Campaign (ICC) is the national everyday cycling advocacy body with membership from cycling advocacy groups, greenway groups and bike festivals on the island of Ireland. It is also the Irish representative body for cycling at the European level as the Irish member of the European Cyclists’ Federation (ECF).

References:
United Nations: Put ‘people, not cars’ first in transport systems, says UN environment chief
https://news.un.org/en/story/2016/10/543292#:~:text=UNEP%20calls%20on%20countries%20to,10%20per%20cent%20a%20year

End of Year Message from Irish Cycling Campaign

2024 was another non-stop year for the Irish Cycling Campaign (ICC). Throughout the year we worked on behalf of our members, those currently cycling and those who would love to cycle if traffic conditions were more inviting. 

Early in 2025, we’ll do a more formal reflection on our advocacy experiences of 2024, but at this point we want to say a sincere thanks to everyone in ICC who contributed to our work. Not a day passed without our volunteers engaging in a myriad of ways so as to advance our cause. Much of this happened ‘behind the scenes’ with volunteers examining public consultations documents and drafting considered responses, preparing for and attending meetings, looking after our various membership and communications systems, and nurturing relationships with many other organisations at home and internationally; and with further work happening in the public domain and within the traditional and social media spheres. 

Following our recent AGM, we are delighted to have a refreshed Executive Committee in place, with three new members on board – Caoimhe Clarke, Anne Nospickel and Síle Ginnane – and our previous Chair Colm Ryder returning to the EC. We also thanked Dave Anderson for his enormous contributions after he stepped down following 3-4 years on the EC. 

2025 will be another crucial year for cycling advocacy, as a new Programme for Government is negotiated and published, and a new cabinet appointed. We look forward to seeing a new Minister for Transport further developing the momentum behind the design and construction of high quality cycling networks in each of the 31 Local Authorities countrywide. ICC is also endorsing the calls of An Taisce for the new government parties to comply with the Irish Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act that was passed in 2021 – they need to commit to fixing the Sectoral Emissions Ceilings so they align with the carbon budgets within the first 100 days of taking office. The rationale for this important ask is laid out in this excellent An Taisce and DCU explainer

To close, we’d like to plant the idea in our members’ minds to consider getting more involved in 2025 – that can happen through ICC’s Local Groups (organised at a County or sometimes a town level), our Action Groups or our Thematically organised groups. Or, it might simply mean turning up for an ICC organised event with a friend. Whatever way you become involved, we will look to ensure that it’s a sociable and satisfying experience, and all the more so as we see new high quality cycling schemes opening up in 2025. 

We wish you all a restful festive break.

Neasa Bheilbigh
Chair of Irish Cycling Campaign’s Executive Committee
Wednesday 18 December 2024

Irish Cycling Campaign unveils the Strong, Mediocre and Weak Parties in Active Travel as per the #GE2024 Manifestos

Irish Cycling Campaign unveils the Strong, Mediocre and Weak Parties in Active Travel as per the Manifestos for General Election 2024

PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – MON 25 NOV 2024

In the lead up to Friday’s election, Irish Cycling Campaign has evaluated the manifestos of the main political parties against their priorities for cycling. The Campaign is calling for increased investment in cycling, walking and public transport to accelerate the shift to sustainable transport and to help fulfill our climate responsibilities.

As shown in our analysis below, parties can be divided into three groups:

  • Those receiving good grades – Green Party, Labour, Social Democrats – were clear in their prioritisation of active & sustainable transport and had detailed targets for funding and resources to support this. 
  • In the middle were Sinn Féin and PBP who had many positive policies but lacked policy specifics.
  • Those with a weaker commitment – Fianna Fáil & Fine Gael – showed a poorer commitment to prioritise active and sustainable transport and had few specific targets.

The Campaign notes that there has been significant progress over the last five years, but the main political parties are now showing a worrying lack of commitment to continued investment. The Campaign says that much more remains to be done to connect the completed individual projects so as to create connected and safer networks countrywide.

Examples of new cycle routes in Dublin include Sandycove to Booterstown, North Strand to Clontarf, Royal Canal greenway and Dodder Greenway. Transformative projects in other regional cities, such as Waterford’s new pedestrian and cycle bridge and Limerick’s East-West links via Childers Road, show how arterial routes are delivering modal shift and transport decarbonisation. 

The Campaign notes that many more people want to make the switch to active travel modes, but are dissuaded by the lack of safe, segregated cycle routes. For example, the Dublin Metropolitan Region Walking and Cycling Index [1] shows that up to 50% of adults want to switch to cycling, if the cycling network was made safer, while currently only 11% of adults cycle daily. For school kids, between 1991 and 2016 walking and cycling to school in Dublin fell from 64% to 46%, while the percentage being driven to school more than doubled, increasing from 17% to 41%. The #1 reason for not cycling is fear of mixing with general traffic, hence the need for high quality segregated routes. 

Irish Cycling Campaign is calling on the next government to:

  • Increase Investment in Sustainable / Public Transport to the tune of
    – 20% of transport capital budget allocated for walking+cycling
    – 5:1 ratio of spend of new public transport to new roads
  • Rapidly deliver High Quality Cycling Infrastructure
  • Prioritise Safe Routes to School
  • Enhance Cyclists Safety
  • Broaden access to bikes
  • Expand Bike Parking and bike sharing schemes
  • Legislate to enable best practice cycle infrastructure designs
  • Address motor vehicle overuse and oversize.

Results, Analysis and Commentary
The results are presented here in tabular and graphic forms.

Neasa Bheilbigh, Chairperson of Irish Cycling Campaign, said “While cycling advocacy in Ireland is 40 years old, it is in the past few years where we have made real progress in re-building a cycling culture in Ireland. The government funding over the past 4.5 years has been instrumental to that progress. That funding needs to continue and grow, to develop segregated cycle ways, greenways and safe routes to school to allow this generation and the next to feel safe enough to choose to use the bike for their daily activities. We need to adapt our private car use to achieve the critical goals of an improved and safer public realm, lower emissions and more efficient movement of people around our towns, cities and rural areas“.

Research from the National Transport Authority shows that 11% of adults cycle daily in Dublin but 46% would like to cycle or cycle more if they felt safer [2]. Irish Cycling Campaign’s Damien Ó Tuama says that we know from research and from the cycle traffic on the Grand Canal,  Dun Laoghaire & Seapoint and the newly opened North Strand cycle tracks that segregated routes increases the number of cyclists and enables people of all ages and abilities to cycle.”

Only 1 in 4 adults and 1 in 10 teenagers who cycle in Dublin are female. Mairead Forsythe from the Campaign says that “the figures show a major gender gap in cycling and while the barriers to more women and girls cycling are varied, the #1 barrier is fear of mixing with motor traffic, hence the need for investment in segregated routes and traffic calming.”

From a healthcare perspective, a transport system that builds in exercise, whether that is a short walk at either end of a bus journey or a cycle to work or school, to a healthcare appointment or to a sporting event, may be the easiest way of achieving the increased physical activity that our health professionals advise.  Behavioural and “nudge” initiatives will only have a limited effect without the infrastructure alongside it. 

Therefore, Irish Cycling Campaign calls on all parties to accelerate the move to sustainable and active travel, and show international leadership in this domain. 

We look forward to continuing to work with representatives from all parties during the next government term.

Notes and References:

Irish Cycling Campaign at Climate & Environment Election Hustings

Irish Cycling Campaign was well represented at the Climate and Environment hustings held earlier today (Wed 20 November) at the Royal Irish Academy on Dawson Street in Dublin. Dr. Mike McKillen, Colm Ryder and Dr. Damien Ó Tuama attended wearing ICC hats.  

The event was hosted by DCU’s Centre for Climate and Society, Friends of the Earth Ireland and Stop Climate Chaos (of which Irish Cycling Campaign is a member). The debate was moderated by Pat Leahy, Political Editor of The Irish Times. 

Seven parties were represented:

  • The Labour Party, by their Leader Deputy Ivana Bacik
  • Sinn Féin, by Deputy Darren O’Rourke
  • Green Party, by Senator Pippa Hackett
  • Fine Gael, by Deputy Hildegarde Naughton
  • People Before Profit-Solidarity, by Deputy Paul Murphy
  • Fianna Fáíl, by Deputy Thomas Byrne
  • Social Democrats, by Jennifer Whitmore

There was some reference to transport in the contributions, but not a huge amount. Both Ivana Bacik and Darren O’Rourke referred respectively to The Labour Party’s and Sinn Féin’s commitments to public transport, while Pippa Hackett referred to the current Programme for Government’s commitment of the spend ratio of 2:1 for public transport projects versus new roads. Deputy Naughton mentioned her own role in initiating the current Safe Routes to Schools projects. Much of the debate centred on retrofitting, carbon taxes, the Nature Restoration Law, data centres and LNG (Liquefied natural gas). 

A YouTube recording of the event can be viewed here:

Irish Cycling Campaign is currently examining all the parties’ manifestos with a view to producing an analysis over the coming days. We will be reporting on this on the Irish Cycling Campaign website here. Watch this space. 

In short though, we know that Ireland is still not on track to stay within our national carbon budgets or our EU commitments for 2030. All of the political parties will need to radically up their games if we are to rapidly reduce emission from transport.

Irish Cycling Campaign’s Impact – Seeking your Views

In preparation for the imminent relaunch of our shiny new national organisation, we would like to develop a public document that shares the story of the impact we as cycling advocates have had over time.  This won’t be a comprehensive listing of everything that has been achieved over the past 30+ years, but rather one that gives a flavour of the breadth of results that have been generated.

We need to hear your views.  What is different now in your own life, in your community, in Ireland, as a result of our work?  How have knowledge, discourses, attitudes, behaviours, relationships, quality of life, policies, practice, infrastructure or the environment changed?

It doesn’t matter if you are a long-term / hard core cycling activist or if you are a new member of the Irish Cycling Campaign.  It doesn’t matter if you have masses you would like to share with us or only have a small thing you want to point to.  What does matter is that you do it! 

Please complete this one-question survey by 6 December 2024 at the very latest and encourage others to do the same.  We can’t wait to hear from you.

Jo Sachs-Elridge & Sandra Velthuis on behalf of the Executive Committee & Board of Irish Cycling Campaign

Winter Bike Lights Promotion 2024

Be with us in Ensuring Ireland’s Bike Riders are Lit Up this Winter!  

Winter is upon us again and the dark evenings have drawn in. So it’s time to ensure that your bike, and other cyclists are lit up and legally compliant these winter nights! 

So come on out and help your local cycle campaigners distribute bike lights over the coming weeks.  It’s also a chance to meet fellow campaign members and encourage voters before the upcoming election!  This is also an opportunity to encourage people to support and join the Irish Cycling Campaign – https://cyclist.ie/join/!  

So why not join us on one of these nights in November!?  Check out locally when it is happening via your local Cycling Campaign website or social media pages or via updates below on this webpage!  

A BIG thanks for the bike lights’ supply from the NTA and the RSA, and for the support of Cyclone Couriers in distributing the lights countrywide!

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Details of Dublin Cycling Campaign‘s bike light distribution:
https://www.dublincycling.com/cycling/2024-winter-bike-lights-promotion

The Bike Circus, Clonakilty (Co Cork) – see https://clonakiltybicyclefestival.org/bikecircus/ – will have sets of winter bike lights available Fridays and Saturdays for the month of November.  Come by between 10-3pm to have your bike safety-checked and we will provide free lights to bikes that need them until we run out of stock!

Cork Cycling Campaign distributing lights!

Irish Cycling Campaign CLG AGM

The Annual General Meeting of the Irish Cycling Campaign CLG will be held on Wednesday, 04 December 2024 at 8pm.

The AGM is open to fully paid-up individual members of the Irish Cycling Campaign CLG as of Wednesday, 27 November 2024

You can register for the event here:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYqf-igpj8jGNdRlY7yYqmA-99A4nd0HWqH

We are also looking for new members to join the Board and Executive Committee this year. 

To nominate yourself please complete this form:
Board and EC nominations form

Call for members to join Board – see:
https://cyclist.ie/2024/10/call-for-members-to-stand-for-election-to-the-board-of-directors-trustees-of-irish-cycling-campaign/  

Call for members to join the Executive Committee – see:
https://cyclist.ie/2024/10/call-for-members-to-stand-for-election-for-the-executive-committee/

AGM Agenda:

  • Present and apologies
  • Approval of the minutes of the previous AGM
  • Update on the previous year from Board
  • Update on the previous year from Executive Committee
  • Financial update to include previous year’s audited accounts and current year to date
  • Acceptance of financial statements
  • Re-appointment of current auditor or appointment of new auditor
  • Elections to the Board
  • Elections to the Executive Committee
  • Motions
    • Special resolution to update constitution
  • Any other business

Special Resolution proposed by Board:

This meeting accepts the proposed amendments to the Constitution to remove the suffix “Company Limited By Guarantee” from the Company’s name, pursuant to an exemption under section 1180(1)(a) of Companies Act 2014.

Key dates:

  • Send nominations to the Board by 6pm on Wednesday, 20 November 2024
  • Send nominations to the Executive Committee by 6pm on Wednesday, 20 November 2024
  • Send member motions to [email protected] by 6pm on Wednesday, 20 November 2024
  • Final agenda with supporting information will be sent Wednesday, 27 November 2024
  • Final date of registration – 6pm on Monday, 02 December 2024. 
  • Annual General Meeting – Wednesday, 04 December 2024 at 8pm – Online

Call for Members to Stand for Election for the Executive Committee

Call for Members to Stand for Election for the Executive Committee of the Irish Cycling Campaign ahead of the ICC AGM taking place on Wed 04 Dec 2024

What is the Executive Committee of Irish Cycling Campaign?
The mission of Irish Cycling Campaign (formerly Cyclist.ie – the Irish Cycling Advocacy Network) is to celebrate, advocate for and enable everyday cycling as a means of travel. We see the bicycle as a tool to secure many environmental, health and societal gains, and see cycling as an empowering and enjoyable activity in its own right. Irish Cycling Campaign (ICC) is both a Company Limited by Guarantee and a Registered Charity (RCN 20102029).

The Executive Committee of ICC is the group that is responsible for advancing the implementation of our current strategy and managing our day-to-day campaigning issues; the Board of ICC, on the other hand, looks after matters of governance. At our Annual General Meeting on Wed 04 December (at 8pm), a new / refreshed Executive Committee (of 12 persons max) of ICC will be elected by members of the organisation.

What does being an Executive Committee member entail?
We are seeking strong campaigners to join the Executive Committee and to lead the organisation in the next phases of its advocacy journey. The expectations of EC members are listed here:

  • Strongly supporting our vision, mission and strategic aims
  • Always acting appropriately and in the best interests of our organisation
  • Preparing for, attending and participating fully in meetings of the Executive Committee, which are held online on a monthly basis (on approx 10 months of the year) and ideally include at least one in-person meeting per year 
  • Actively contributing to the work of the Executive Committee and following through on actions agreed to
  • Actively contributing to the work of one of our Action Groups (ideally)
  • Time commitment: a couple of hours a week over a 1-year term (ideally)

What kind of people are you looking for?

  • A diversity of people in terms of age, gender and background
  • Based anywhere in Ireland
  • A commitment to help run a leading and growing advocacy organisation   
  • Those who work well as part of a closely knit team
  • Holding a variety of skill-sets and experiences – such as campaigning / activism / advocacy / lobbying, event management, fundraising, communications, organisational development, IT, research etc.
  • You must be a current member of Irish Cycling Campaign to be a candidate https://cyclist.ie/membership-sign-up/ 

What would I get out of it?

  • Taking meaningful and effective action to combat the climate, health, road safety and associated crises
  • Gaining satisfaction from being involved in an organisation that is the leader in cycling and sustainable transport advocacy, and that is at an exciting juncture in its development
  • Being part of a friendly, hardworking team of other volunteers
  • Developing connections with and support from cycling advocates across the country.
  • Sharing your skills and learning some new ones along the way

I might potentially be interested; what do I do?

If you want to find out more, you can contact our National Cycling Coordinator, Dr. Damien Ó Tuama  (or other members of our current Executive Committee).

If you are ready to throw your hat in the ring, please complete this nomination form by (the extended deadline of) Wed 20 November 2024. We are very much looking forward to hearing from you!

Call for members to stand for election to the Board of Directors/Trustees of Irish Cycling Campaign

What is the Board?

The Irish Cycling Campaign is both a Company Limited by Guarantee and a Registered Charity.  The Board of Directors/Trustees is the grouping of people who are responsible for governing the organisation. The Board does not play an active role in campaigning and other day-to-day issues, but retains oversight and deals with matters relating to legal and regulatory compliance, risk management, financial control, internal policy development, staffing, and so on.  We are now looking to fill up to three vacancies.

What is expected of Board members?

  • Strongly supporting our vision, mission and strategic aims
  • Always acting appropriately and in the best interests of our organisation
  • Preparing for, attending and participating fully in meetings of the Board, which are generally held online during the evening at least every two months
  • Actively contributing to the work of the Board and following through on actions agreed to
  • Time commitment: a couple of hours a week over a three-year term (ideally)

What kind of people are you looking for?

  • Adults of any age and from any background
  • Based anywhere in Ireland, with a particular desire for people outside of Dublin
  • Having a commitment to good governance
  • Suitable skills: we are especially interested in hearing from you if you have expertise in data protection, finance, HR or insurance
  • You preferably cycle but do you NOT need to have been involved in cycle campaigning previously

What would I get out of it?

  • Doing something practical to combat the climate, health, congestion, road safety and associated crises
  • Gaining satisfaction from being involved in an organisation that is a leader in cycling development and is at an exciting juncture
  • Being part of a friendly, hardworking team of other volunteers
  • A chance to share your skills and learn some new ones along the way

I might potentially be interested – what do I do?

If you want to find out more, you can contact our Board Chairperson Mairead Forsythe for an informal chat.  If you are ready to throw your hat in the ring, please complete this nomination form by (the extended deadline of) Wed 20 November 2024.  We are very much looking forward to hearing from you!