A protest is to take place to demand additional funding for cycling in Dublin. The protest will take place on Monday 3rd October, meeting at 5.30pm at the Dublin Bikes stand on Merrion Square West (just across the road from the Natural History Museum (‘The Dead Zoo’ as it is sometimes called) and the back of Dáil Éireann).

The protest is organised by Dublin Cycling Campaign in collaboration with Cyclist.ie – the Irish Cycling Advocacy Network which is the member for Ireland of the European Cyclists’ Federation.

Also supporting the protest are An Taisce – the National Trust for Ireland and Love 30, an umbrella body of organisations and individuals who believe that lower speed limits can make our towns and cities safer and more pleasant places to live, work and play.

Details of the protest can be found on the Dublin Cycling Campaign website here.

A statement on the Dublin Cycling Campaign website regarding the protest reads as follows:


The background to the protest is that cycling continues to get the crumbs at the table when it comes to transport spend. Of the €10B (billion) allocated for transport investment in the Capital Investment Plan for 2016-2021, active travel (encompassing walking, cycling and other such measures) is allocated just €100M (million).

That means that cycling is to receive approximately 0.5% (half of one percent!) of the transport pie. If that wasn’t bad enough, we heard in the last few weeks of further cuts to the transport budget for cycling projects for Dublin City Council by the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport – as reported on Irishcycle.com.

This all comes at a time when we have had nine cyclist fatalities in Ireland this year already, the most recent of which was the tragic death of Donna Fox at the junction between Seville Place and Guild Street in the north inner city.

Dublin Cycling Campaign is calling on everyone who uses a bike in Dublin – for transportation or for leisure – to join the protest on Monday 3rd October so as to send a loud-and-clear message to the Minister that he needs to recognise that the status quo is not good enough – cycling needs proper funding to make it safer and to enable Dublin to reach its potential as a world class cycling city. We are calling on the Minister to Allocate Cycling a Better Share.

Watch this space over the coming days. We will have more information on the protest. And if you can spare time over the coming week to help us distribute flyers and get the word out, do please contact us. All help gratefully received.

6 COMMENTS

  1. Hi Caroline. I take your point….. Unfortunately there was no time that suited everyone…. we are aiming to get as many commuters based in city centre as possible and to stop by the Minister’s office when he is (hopefully) there. Do drop an email to the Minister reiterating our demands if you can…. details on protest page in http://www.dublincycling.ie
    Thanks.

    • Hi Brian – This protest is firmly focused on highlighting the incredibly small amounts of funding allocated to cycling schemes in Ireland – and the lack of funds to implement our (generally) excellent National Cycle Policy Framework (http://www.smartertravel.ie/content/national-cycle-policy). There are, without a doubt, multiple issues which contribute to cycle safety – and all of them are covered in the NCPF.
      It would be brilliant if you can spread the word about the protest! Nothing changes in Ireland without intense lobbying and/or protests. Thanks a million.
      Damien Ó Tuama
      National Cycling Coordinator
      Cyclist.ie – The Irish Cycling Advocacy Network

  2. Thanks for shaing, The Bike Comes First! Aiming to make this the largest cycling protest we have had in Ireland, certainly in the last 10 years and possibly ever – Really appreciate it if you can give it legs over the coming week. Thanks a million.

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