Category Archives: Irish Posts

Ireland, see also NI

Irish Posts

Cycling Column: The economic benefits of cycling lanes – to Kildare

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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.

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Irish Posts

Minister Brings Action Plan on Climate Pollution to Cabinet

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Minister Naughten has announced he is bringing Ireland’s first plan to cut climate pollution in 10 years to Cabinet today. Publication of the draft National Mitigation Plan and the launch of a public consultation is expected within days.

The new action plan is a successor to the National Climate Change Strategies of April 2007 and October 2000, and the CO2 Abatement Strategy of June 1993. However, Irish greenhouse gas emissions that drive climate change are higher now then they were at the time of the first plan in 1993. This is despite the National Policy Position on Climate Action which sets a national objective of cutting CO2 emissions by 80% by 2050 and capturing all our agricultural emissions by planting more trees and restoring our peatland bogs.

Stop Climate Chaos, the civil society coalition campaigning for Ireland to do its fair share to tackle climate change, has today published “Five Tests to for Ireland’s draft National Mitigation Plan“.

5 Tests for Ireland’s climate action plans

  1.   Does the new plan add up to doing our fair share?
  2.   Does it start the phase out of fossil fuels?
  3.   Does it ramp up renewable energy and kick-start community ownership?
  4.   Does it put agriculture on a path to carbon neutrality?
  5.   Does it realign transport investment to reduce emissions?

The full 5 tests briefing document can be downloaded here.

Commenting, Cliona Sharkey, Trócaire Policy Officer and a spokesperson for the coalition said:

“Ultimately the plan needs to demonstrate Ireland is preparing to deliver not only on its EU targets, but also on the even more ambitious action agenda set out in the Paris Agreement. If we fail to meet our EU targets we will face significant fines.but if we fail to deliver on the Paris Agreement, we invite climate catastrophe with devastating consequences across society, the environment and the economy.”

The Paris Agreement commits Ireland and all the other parties to the treaty to hold: “the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.”.

Unfortunately, Ireland is a persistent laggard – not a leader. According to latest figures, Ireland’s current emissions are 6.6% above 1990 levels, and emissions increased by 3.7% in 2015. Ireland, with the 8th highest emissions per person in the OECD, is one of only two countries in the EU which will overshoot its 2020 targets for emissions reductions.

Ireland needs to immediately embark on a rapid and just transition to a carbon-free future. Both the EPA and the new Climate Change Advisory Council describe what is required as “a major societal and economic transformation”. Ireland’s last action plan on climate was launched in 2007 – by the then Minister for the Environment, Dick Roche – and expired in 2012. The Advisory Council is clear the new National Mitigation Plan should not just focus on our EU targets for 2020 and 2030 but “should outline the roadmap to achieve the 2050 national objective”. That objective, set out in the National Policy Position on Climate Action, is an 80% aggregate emissions reduction between the buildings, energy, and transport sectors, and carbon neutrality in agriculture.

Under the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act, which became law on December 10th 2015, Minister for Climate Action, Denis Naughten TD, is obliged to submit a final action plan on how Ireland will cut climate pollution (called the National Mitigation Plan) to Government by 10th June 2017.

Irish Posts

Take Five Minutes to Put Pressure on your Local TDs to Take Cycling Seriously!

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We are calling on the government and TDs more generally to:

• allocate at least 10% of the Transport Budget to cycling
• implement the National Cycle Policy Framework in full
• take action to reduce transport emissions so that Ireland fulfils its obligations under the Paris Climate Agreement (of Dec 2015)

Without serious investment, the numbers of children cycling to school will remain way below what they should be and collisions involving cyclists will remain far too high. In a nutshell, we want cycling promotion and investment recognised as the amazing public health and urban decongestion interventions that they are!

We are calling on you to:

1 – Sign the petition: https://my.uplift.ie/petitions/allocate-10-of-the-national-transport-bud…

2 – Contact your local TD to asking him/her to take cycling seriously.
Feel free to use the text above and add in your own points. Visit https://www.whoismytd.com/ to see who are your local TDs – it’s super easy. When emailing, provide your home address so they know you are in their constituency and monitoring how much attention (or not!) they give to cycling.

Thank you – and do let us know what responses you get from your TDs

Also posted @Dublin Cycling

Irish Posts

Mayor who resigned after racist rant heads anti-cycle lane push

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  • Cycling supporters say “projects are to enable our kids to get to school safely”
  • Group questions how yet-to-be installed cycle lanes can be killing businesses

Kildare councillor, Darren Scully, who made national headlines and resigned as Mayor of Naas after saying he would not represent “immigrants coming from African countries”, is now taking up the challenge of opposing cycle routes in the centre of Naas.

Read more at Irish Cycle

Irish Posts

Cycle Right Launched by Minister Ross

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National Standard Rolled Out Nationwide

Cycle Right, the National Standard for Cycle Training in Ireland, has been officially launched by Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport Shane Ross TD. Through a standardised cyclist road safety training course, cycling skills and road safety awareness will be delivered to school children nationwide. The National Standard – Cycle Right – is funded by the Department of Transport Tourism and Sport (DTTAS) and the Road Safety Authority (RSA). It has been developed through a steering group of Cycling Ireland, DTTAS, the RSA and others.

Cycling Ireland CEO Geoff Liffey is excited about the launch of Cycle Right saying; “I am very excited about the launch of Cycle Right; this is one of the most significant positive developments that we have seen in recent years, and will be a crucial tool in progressing cycling. By learning correct cycling skills, and learning how to cycle safely on the roads, more people will be encouraged to ride their bikes on a regular basis. By increasing the number of people cycling and increasing its visibility, our voice is louder in the move towards a more cycling friendly country.”

“While there have been successful cycle training providers operating in Ireland for years, Cycle Right, the National Standard for Cycling Training in Ireland, ensures that everyone is delivering the same message, and the standard of training received by everyone is the same. This project has been in development for over six years and I’m very pleased to see it finally come to fruition as part of our current strategy.”

Launching Cycle Right Minister Ross stated “I am delighted to announce that my Department is funding the national roll-out of Cycle Right – the new national cycle training standard – to primary schools for 2017. This new standard, that includes an on-road element of training, will ensure that we have, for the first time, a standardised level of cycle training around the country. It will also complete one of our policy objectives under the National Cycle Policy Framework.”

The Minister continued – “Since my appointment as Minister, I have become even more aware of the numbers cycling to work and the continued year-on-year growth in those numbers, particularly in Dublin. However, we do need to address the fact that we are not seeing any significant growth in the numbers cycling to school, these are the cyclists of tomorrow and we need to give them the skills and confidence to cycle to school now, so that when they graduate they will continue cycling for the rest of their lives. Cycle Right will give them those skills and that confidence.”

The Minister added – “I am particularly pleased to note that Cycle Right was developed by a partnership steering committee consisting of a wide-range of stakeholders, Cycling Ireland, the Road Safety Authority, An Garda Síochána, An Táisce Green Schools, Coaching Ireland and representatives of local authorities along with my Department. This has ensured that the Safety aspect of this training has been key in its development.”

“I understand that training will commence in early 2017 and I look forward to congratulating some of the first graduates in person in the Spring. It is important that parents support this initiative and use this opportunity to look again at how their children travel to school. I know, from my discussions with my colleagues the Minister for Health and Minister for Children that childhood obesity is a pressing issue and that active travel to school, be that by cycling or walking is very important in addressing this.”

Cycle Right is funded by the Department of Transport Tourism and Sport and the Road Safety Authority, and will be administered and managed by Cycling Ireland, the National Governing Body of Cycling in Ireland.

See also article on website of Department of Transport Tourism and Sport (DTTAS)

Irish Posts

Royal Canal cycling greenway ‘mediocre’ – claim

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The Royal Canal Greenway, currently being constructed along the the Royal Canal across the northern boundary of the county has been described as “mediocre” by local lobbying group Maynooth Cycling Campaign.

“This was a lost opportunity to provide a good quality greenway as opposed to a mediocre one – one which will compares unfavourably with the Deise Greenway,” Maynooth Cycling Campaign said in a blog post on their website on November 18.

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Irish Posts

Meath Co Co Rejects Maynooth Cycling Campaign’s Submission

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Maynooth Cycling Campaign’s submission here

Meath County Council has rejected all the points raised in Maynooth Cycling Campaign’s submission on the Moygaddy Road, part of the proposed ring road around Maynooth.

The main point concerned the separation of an off road cycle track from the road. The council proposed a separation of 1.5m whereas Table 4.3 of TD300 Provision of Cycle Facilities in Rural Areas requires a minimum separation distance of 2m for speeds of 80km/h or less. The council’s response was “The separation distance at 1.5m is deemed to be appropriate”.

The second point of the submission was differentiation of cycle track from the footpath in level and material. Meath County Council responded that there would be suffice demarcation with different materials.

The third point was for the provision of filtered permeability on the existing road. Meath County Council undertook to implement some traffic calming but did not state whether or not filtered permeability would be included .

A common aspects of all three responses is that they fail to address the points raised in the submission and recommend no changes regardless of standards, best international practice or any other arguments or precedents. This continues the practice in most local authorities of looking for public submissions but rejecting submissions from cycling groups if it does accord with their proposals