Cian Ginty

I am editor of IrishCycle.com and have reported on and commented on cycling in Ireland for over a decade. My background is in journalism -- I have a BA in Journalism from DCU and HDip in Print Journalism from BCFE. I wrote about cycling for national newspapers, and then started CyclingInDublin.com for overflow stories. Later the website was re-branded to reflect a more national focus.

“Little or no progress” with Dublin’s complex junctions or major one-way streets says report on cycling

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Cyclists travelling from Westmorland Street to O’Connell Bridge

Dublin City has seen “a definite improvement” for cycling in the last five years, an independent report says, but it warns that targets will not be met if the momentum is not stepped up. It highlights how one-way streets and large junctions are not being tackled.

The Bypad report written for Dublin City Council was finalised earlier this year, but was not reported on until now.

“The concise conclusion from the 2011 Bypad audit is that there has been a definite improvement in the quality of the cycling policy in the last 5 years which included the appointment of Ireland’s first Cycling Officer,” the report said. “However, cycling needs to be taken far more seriously as a core part of urban transport policy than it currently is.”

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Irish cycle track law to be revoked

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Although there’s much confusion among cyclists and motorists, shared use paths like this one are not covered by the mandatory use law.

Legislation to revoke the rule which forces cyclists to use a cycle track regardless of its condition is in the process of being finalised, the Department of Transport said.

The national cycle policy includes a commitment to remove the current law, known as the “mandatory use” rule. That promise was originally made by Noel Dempsey, the transport minister in the last government, but has been slow to be delivered.

Cyclists are currently required to use cycle lanes marked with the correct bicycle logo sign, but cyclists view this as unfair given the current state of the country’s cycle lanes It’s understood that a number of bodies including the RSA are against changing the law.

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“We have to do” quays cycle route – senior Dublin engineer

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Traffic on Wolfe Tone Quay, near Heuston Station

A high quality cycle route on the quays is “something we have to do” a senior engineer with Dublin City Council has said.

Under the title “Liffey Cycle Route” council has allocated €150,000 for “design and commencement of construction of a high quality East-West city centre cycle route linking the IFSC in the east with Heuston Station and the Phoenix Park in the west.”

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Cycle lane guidelines only adopted after major Dublin repairs

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In the gutter: Lane widths across much of Dublin’s cycle lane network are now below guidelines set out in the National Cycle Manual, which says broken-lined cycle lanes used around much of Dublin City should “only to be used in exception circumstances.”

Design guidelines costing nearly €250,000 and aimed at making roads safer for cyclists were set aside on a technicality for resurfacing works to 24km of roads in Dublin.

Officials from the National Transport Authority (NTA) defended the disregarding of their own guidelines, the National Cycle Manual, while cycling campaigners called it “an appalling sign for the future.”

The manual was published at cyclemanual.ie early last year and was available to road authorities before this, but the NTA said the resurfacing — which cost €22 million — did not have to follow the manual because the “work predated the formal adoption” of the manual.

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