General news about cycling
Latest from SouthernTrail.net
More news (graphics): here and here
But: Ross diverts Greenway funding to ‘Boxer’ Moran’s turf
Also: Work starts on Great Western Greenway expansion in Achill
Council to investigate making Barnagh Tunnel part of GST
Planning permission (part 8): upgrade to the Great Southern Trail now uploaded to Limerick City & County Council’s website
GST extension into Kerry comes closer:
3km extension of the Great Southern Trail; planning details and associated drawing
Ireland’s Cycling History – A Wonderful Story!
Paul Rouse, the noted sports historian has written this article, on cycling in Ireland, in a recent edition of the Examiner newspaper. Anyone who reads it will, I dare say, be very impressed and amazed at the grip that cycling had on the Irish psyche back in the early part of the 20th century.
The article also has wonderful and evocative images of cycling ‘events’ over the years. As we arrive next year in 2017 at the 200th anniversary of the invention of the bike, articles such as this will help us to appreciate how far the simple bicycle has come … and gone … in its development, and in our culture.
Sit back and Enjoy the Ride!
Cyclist.ie has a new working group examining how to integrate rail and cycling better. We want to see far higher quality cycle parking at all Irish rail stations, easier carriage of bicycles on trains and clearer information on how this can be done. We are inspired by the policies and practices of train operators abroad who really value their cycling and rail customers! Even simple interventions like giant bicycle logos at appropriate spots on carriages can make a difference – as shown in the photo above from Denmark!
The working group includes representatives from Cyclist.ie, Kilkenny Cycling Campaign, Maynooth Cycling Campaign and Cycling Ireland. The next of our regular meetings with Irish Rail will take place on Thu 20th October (afternoon).
We are now seeking a new volunteer (or several) from the wider cycling community who can help us prepare for these meetings. We would really like to hear from you if you are a regular train user – and cyclist – and have thought carefully about how Irish Rail could better accommodate its cycling customers. The ideal volunteer will have some knowledge of how progressive systems abroad work in terms of combining bike and rail, and/or can help us carry out research on this topic. We would also love to hear from you if you have specialised transport or mechanical engineering knowledge, since some of the discussions on the potential for retrofitting existing Irish Rail rolling stock can be quite technical. Even better still if the volunteer can take time out to come to meetings with us!
Please email the National Cycling Coordinator ASAP if you can help out (and ideally by Fri 14th October). Thank you.
Following a series of cyclist fatalities and a lack of investment in cycling infrastructure, when activists called for their brothers and sisters on two wheels to turn out at a protest they couldn’t have imagined the reaction they’d get …
Read article; see also: [btnsx id=”5197″]
Think the M7 widening project will ease Kildare’s traffic? Don’t believe the hype
A national Greenway cycling route would cost the same as a few kilometres of motorway, and transform how tourists and locals travel through the country. Read article
Irish people buy the most new diesel cars in the world. Car sales data shows diesel cars account for 7 out of 10 of all new cars sold in Ireland.
“Globally, Europe is a diesel island. In the US and Japan diesel cars account for less than 5% of new sales. Europe, where diesel makes up 50% of new sales, is an outlier, and Ireland is way out on a limb with diesel accounting for 70% of new sales”, according to James Nix of Green Budget Europe, pointing to a comparison with other European countries, and adding that “Ireland needs to get back on track, shifting car sales away from diesel and on to electric vehicles and hybrids”.
Cyclist.ie, the Irish Cycling Advocacy Network backs support by Dr Donal O Shea for the introduction of a Sugar Tax
In response to a claim by the Irish Beverage Council (IBC) that ‘a sugar tax would not work’, Dr Donal O Shea, Ireland’s leading expert in the field of obesity, has come out strongly against IBC’s claims, but also stressing (as reported in today’s Irish Times) that there are multiple ‘separate drivers of obesity, and no single measure will be effective on its own’.
Cyclist.ie, and its European partner, the European Cyclists Federation (ECF) have long stressed the need for a multi-pronged approach to the issue of growing obesity levels in Irish society. One significant, and internationally recognised, approach to support the introduction of a Sugar Tax, is to actively plan for greater levels of physical activity. Ireland’s National Physical Activity Plan launched late last year emphasises the urgency of this task, as only 1 in 4 of 9year olds are meeting the required daily activity recommended. This is a health time bomb coming down the tracks!
Everyday cycling and walking has a vital part to play in pushing up levels of physical activity, and yet the recent decision by the National Transport Authority (NTA) to reduce funding levels for major cycling projects in the Dublin region, is a negative statement by a state body, that flies in the face of the recommendations of the adopted National Physical Activity Plan. This NTA decision will set back cycling projects, and thus increased take-up of physical activity by individuals, due to the poor quality of present cycling infrastructure. It is a short term decision that will have immediate long term negative effects!
Cyclist.ie supports the call by Dr Donal O Shea for the introduction of a Sugar Tax, and for the funding and implementation of a range of measures to encourage active travel. The healthy future of Irish society is at stake.
An extensive draft Cork Cycle Network Plan has been published by the city and county councils, more than 18 months after it originally sought submissions from the public towards the project.
New cycle infrastructure projects proposed for Cork city centre … Read article
