Irish Cycling Campaign has a brand new Executive Committee! This follows on from its Annual General Meeting held on 29 February 2024!

The refreshed Executive Committee includes some members who were part of the previous EC (that ran from late 2021 to early 2024), but it also brings in three new faces – Sinéad Halpin (Cork), Kevin Jennings (Galway) and Vinnie Wall (Cork). It’s terrific to have them on board. You can read all about the new EC below.  

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)

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)

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)

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.