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Category Archives: Irish Posts
Ireland, see also NI
Helmets, hi-vis & safety
Deborah Coleman, writing in the Independent rolls out the “no brainer” approach
Phil Skelton, of Safe Cycling Ireland, makes a different case, below
Recreational Cycle Route Planning & Development Training Course
Sport Ireland Trails has developed a two day course on Recreational Cycle Route Planning & Development. According to Sport Ireland Trails, it will provide participants with the knowledge and skills to aid the development of recreational cycle routes in Ireland.
The course will run on 10 and 11 May 2017 at the National Sports Campus in Abbotstown. More information
Cyclists demand action over number of road fatalities
The Government is facing calls to do more to protect cyclists, as the death toll of those killed on bicycles in 2017 has already reached half of last year’s total. Read article
First UCC Campus Cycle Week in cooperation with Cork Cycling Campaign
University College Cork, the world’s first Green Campus, and Cork Cycling Campaign organised the first UCC Campus Cycle Week (6th-10th March) this spring, to start off the cycling season. Cork Cycling Campaign held an informal “Meet the Campaign” meeting for everybody interested, Miro and Darren offered a cycle safety course, and Victoria Cross Cycles offered their free BikeDoctor service. The main event was a roundtable discussion around cycling to UCC which ca. 20 staff and students attended over lunchtime, together with Cork City Council’s Cycling Officer, Anita Lenihan, and members of the Campaign and Stephan Koch in his function of UCC’s Commuter Plan Manager.
This setting was also used to officially launch the Cork Cycling Skills leaflet that Cork Cycling Campaign and the Transport and Mobility Forum got printed in large numbers with the support of Cork City Council. The flyer aims at giving cyclists advice how to safely navigate through road traffic and build up confidence to also tackle challenging situations on the roads. It is a reprint of the successful leaflet that Galway Cycling Campaign produced some years ago. Thanks to the colleagues in Galway for their kind permission. The launch got quite a bit of media attention (Irish Examiner, Cork’s 96fm).
We succeeded in making Cork Cycling Campaign more visible in town and in UCC, and a special thank you to our Vice-Chair Dean Venables who was the driving force behind this (also as a UCC staff member), as well as to Sarah Thelen for her support. We plan to have the next Campus Cycle Week next year.
We Need our Space! Minimum Passing Distance Legislation
Have you been frightened by a dangerous overtaking manoeuvre while cycling? If so you are not alone as these overly close passes on Irish roads show.
In fact, a recent survey conducted by Stayin’ Alive at 1.5 and the Dublin Cycling Campaign revealed that 97.2% of respondents had been scared by a dangerous overtaking manoeuvre whilst cycling.
Waterford’s 46km Greenway opens for cyclists and walkers
Off-road track, along an old railway, includes coast, viaducts, tunnel and spectacular gorge
It’s been nearly 140 years since business was this brisk at O’Mahony’s pub in Durrow, Co Waterford. During the construction of the Waterford-to-Mallow rail line, the pub – which opened in 1868 – catered for thirsty railway workers.
Now things have come full circle, says proprietor Helen O’Mahony. These days, she and her husband Tom are kept busy serving drinks and ice cream to people on the Waterford Greenway – a 46km off-road walking and biking trail built along the railway line, which officially opens on Saturday (March 25th, 2017) – 50 years to the day after the last passenger train travelled the route.
Cycling Without Age
Update you on our progress with Cycling Without Age coming to Ireland.
The first rickshaw bike arrived in Dublin on Monday, 13th March 2017. We were delighted to take up the invitation from the Dublin Cycling Campaign to participate in the Dublin St Patrick’s Day Parade under the banner of 200 Years of Cycling. See the photo of us at the start of the parade. We purchased this first bike from personal funds, so as to have a model to demonstrate to nursing homes and sponsors. We hope to have this bike crowd-funded.
Now that we have the bike here, we will be happy to talk to people, organisations, nursing homes, potential sponsors and others about how to promote the concept of Cycling Without Age here. We already have expressions of interest from some sponsors and organisations, and offers from volunteer pilots, whom we will train in the bike’s use. Please let us know if you would like more information.
Clara Clark & Charles Mollan
Cycling Column: The economic benefits of cycling lanes – to Kildare
The following isn’t going to please the reactionary alternative facts crowd, because, you know, it’s facts.
One of the most common arguments against eliminating parking spaces in favour of cycling lanes is that it damages businesses.
The people behind those arguments are dead right. There will be an impact on business, except that it’s the opposite of the one they have in mind.
As the late great Christopher Hitchens observed once: “That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.”
There is no available evidence that replacing parking spaces with cycling lanes reduces trade. But there is, thankfully, evidence that removing parking spaces actually increases trade by attracting pedestrians and cyclists. A new study of a neighbourhood in Toronto has proven this.
Waterford Greenway Opening
Saturday, March 25, 2017, see links below for more information; come and support it!
