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Dear <<First Name>>,

May is here and it is time to get prepared for the Local and European Elections at the end of the month. At our next Public Meeting we will be looking at how we can make the most of these elections - what we want and what we can expect from our representatives. Join the discussion on Monday May 13th at our usual spot, the Central Hotel on Exchequer Street from 7pm.

We are also organising a protest cycle to the Dáil on Wednesday May 15th and we would love to see you there! Among other things, we want to highlight that cyclists are voters too and we have a voice. We are meeting at 5:15pm in front of the main entrance to the National Gallery. Helps us spread the word and we hope to see you there!

Happy Cycling!
Dublin Cycling Campaign

European Cyclists' Federation AGM, Brussels, 17-18 May 2019 – Delegate Sought!

Extremely short notice, but we are looking for one of our members to attend the AGM of the European Cyclists' Federation (ECF) taking place in Brussels next week. Dublin Cycling Campaign and subsequently Cyclist.ie have been members of ECF for over 20 years, and we are keen to remain plugged in so as to be continuously learning from and sharing experiences with our European campaigning colleagues. DCC / Cyclist.ie can cover basic expenses (travel, accommodation and event fee) if we find the right person to attend. Find all the details here.

National Bikeweek 2019

As usual Dublin Cycling Campaign will be organising events, and participating in National Bikeweek, which this year runs from Saturday 22nd June to Sunday 30th June inclusive. But to make all the events we are involved in successful, WE NEED YOUR HELP! Below is a list of the events we hope to run. If you feel you can help out in any way please contact the people below as soon as possible, but ideally before 24th May next.

Dublin Community Gardens Cycle – cycling between, and hosting at, a variety of community gardens around the city - a wonderful event culminating in a celebration at the Mud Island Community Garden in North Strand. Contact Vinnie at vinniemeyler@gmail.com

Cycling Photo Exhibitions and Dutch Film Shows, to heighten awareness of Velo-city 2019 conference and Bike Parade - volunteers needed to mount exhibitions and send us your best cycling photos! Contact Colm at colmryder@gmail.com

Phoenix Park evening Heritage Bike Tours - We need volunteer marshals for 4 evening tours during Bikeweek. Contact Colm colmryder@gmail.com

Special Irish Writers' Literary City Bike Tour: Volunteer marshals required. Contact Donna at donnacooney1@yahoo.ie

Joyce-Cycle Tours for Adults and Children: Volunteer marshals required. Contact Donna at donnacooney1@yahoo.ie

MetroLink and Cycling

MetroLink is a proposed metro project for Dublin. The route is mostly underground from Swords in north Dublin through the airport to the city centre. It will reduce the amount of traffic in Dublin making it a safer place to cycle.

Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) are currently looking for feedback. Dublin Cycling Campaign has identified some major areas of concern. TII are the same government body who designed and built the Luas Cross City. We need as many people as possible to raise these concerns with TII. 

Key points to include in your feedback to TII:

  • MetroLink must not close the Royal Canal Greenway without alternative arrangements
  • Transport Infrastructure Ireland must set high safety standards for all construction vehicles. This will protect vulnerable road users like pedestrians and cyclists
  • Large quantities of high-quality, covered and secure bike parking is required at all stations
  • The new metro bridge over the M50 must include walking and cycling
  • It must be easy for pedestrians and cyclists to cross the line north of Swords
Please help us spread the word to other cyclists and people you know who use the Royal Canal Greenway. MetroLink will be a repeat of Luas Cross City and ignore cyclists unless you provide feedback now. We have attached our full submission to Transport Infrastructure Ireland here. And you can read the full article on our website.

Survey on Cycling and 30 km/h Speed Limits

The Love 30 Campaign group is doing a survey to find out the impact of 30 km/h speed limits on cycling patterns. Do more people cycle as a result of lower speed limits? And does it lead to greater diversity among those who cycle? The results of the survey will be presented at Velo-city 2019, the premier international planning conferences on cycling, which takes place from 25-28 June 2019 in Dublin.

If you live in Dublin, regardless of whether you are a cyclist or not, please fill in the Cycling and 30 km/h Speed Limits Survey, by Friday 31 May. The survey is anonymous and takes less than 5 minutes to complete.

Irish Pedestrian Network

On the 26th of February the first meeting of the Irish Pedestrian Network (IPN) took place. The network seeks to gather together and amplify the voice of pedestrians in Ireland. At the meeting the IPN adopted a few first principles:

100% of Irish residents and visitors are pedestrians in one way or another. The Irish Pedestrian Network will work to represent their needs in an inclusive and ambitious way and to deliver a public realm that is accessible, walkable and supportive of our own, and the planet's, health.

The Hierarchy of the Street should be (from most important to least) vulnerable: pedestrians, cyclists and self-propelled vehicles, public transport, privately rented transport (taxis), local business collection and delivery, local motor traffic, non-local motor traffic.

We believe that a space that is not suitable for the vulnerable among us is not a usable space at all. All footpaths, streets, squares and developments should be design with a universality of access in mind.

The next meeting of the IPN will take place on Thursday 6th June at Narrative 4, 58 O'Connell Street, Limerick where we'll be discussing how we can activate and support councils and community groups to create pedestrian specific action plans.

New Wexford Cycling Group Gets Moving!

Phil Skelton of Stayin' Alive at 1.5 campaign fame reported on a first successful meeting with Wexford County Council. Great to see things moving down that way!

Here's Phil's report: I was part of the setting up of a local cycling advocacy group called Wexford Bicycle User Group (WEXBUG) a few weeks ago. We had our first meeting and a WEXBUG delegation of Maura, Ruth and I met with Eamonn Hore Director of Services, Wexford County Council along with relevant roads officials. Our main aim was to introduce ourselves and to raise some matters of concern and to share some future ideas. 

Overall, we all came away really happy with the outcome of our meeting. And many thanks to Ruth and Maura who were excellent representatives of our group (picture above). 

Active Travel / Health / Climate Action

On April 17th Cyclist.ie broke new ground when we launched our Active Travel / Health / Climate Action initiative in Buswells Hotel. This initiative was in collaboration with our Honorary President, Professor Donal O'Shea who is HSE Clinical Lead on Obesity, together with the Irish Heart Foundation (IHF), the Irish Cancer Society, Diabetes Ireland, Irish Doctors for the Environment, the Association for Health Promotion Ireland and the Irish Pedestrian Network.

The purpose of the initiative was to present letters co-signed by all of the above bodies to the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar; Minister for Communications, Energy and Climate Action Richard Bruton; Minister for Transport Tourism and Sport, Shane Ross; Minister for Health, Simon Harris; and Minister of State for Health, Catherine Byrne. The letters make the case on health grounds for why concrete measures to facilitate active travel should form an integral part of the forthcoming All of Government Climate Plan.

Professor O'Shea, Tim Collins CEO of the IHF, Paul Gordon, Policy and Public Affairs Manager Irish Cancer Society; Nessa Hourigan, Irish Pedestrian Network; and Clara Clarke, Cycling without Age, all spoke endorsing the initiative. TD's present to support the event included Eamon Ryan and Catherine Martin of the Green Party; Ivana Bacik, Labour; and Ciaran Cannon Fine Gael.

Thanks to Paul McDonald for the image. Left to right, Muireann O'Dea, Dublin Cycling Campaign and Love 30; Professor Donal O'Shea, Honorary President Cyclist.ie; Tim Collins CEO Irish Heart Foundation; Clara Clarke, Cycling without Age; Paul Gordon Public Affairs Manager, Irish Cancer Society; Nessa Hourigan Irish Pedestrian Network; Joan Swift, Sligo Cycling Campaign; Sandra Green, Irish Doctors for the Environment.

Local Elections 2019: Priorities for South Dublin County Council

Cycling campaigners in South Dublin have put together a list of priorities (in no particular order) for candidates in the upcoming Local Elections. We have asked the candidates to tell us which of these priorities they will support if elected. We will upload responses here. 

If you live in South Dublin and would like to get involved in campaigning for better cycling facilities in your area contact Mairead Forsythe (mforsythe@eircom.net) or Muireann O'Dea (muireann.odea@gmail.com).

We Need Your Great Cycling Photos!

National Bikeweek 2019 is on the way soon, and as part of the activities for this year's Bikeweek, we in Dublin Cycling Campaign are working with Dublin City Council Libraries to mount a photographic exhibition of cycling related photos, similar to the one at the top of this article. We already have a cache of nearly 80 wonderful images, but we need to build this cycling photo library, so that we can use it here in Dublin, and hopefully further afield.

So send Colm Ryder your best photos (colmryder@gmail.com) and see them displayed in Dublin's libraries, and hopefully further afield in the future. We will be mounting them for display purposes. I need them at the latest by 24th May next, so get searching as soon as you can! I look forward to hearing from you.

Call for Participants: Velo-city Arts Project

As part of The Citizen Cycle, an arts programme for the Velo-city 2019 conference, media artist Cliona Harmey is looking for participants to take part in a series of beginners' hands-on art workshops which will culminate in the development of an artwork using wearable electronics for the Velo-city Bike Parade. Participants will get to learn about programming and systems-based art while developing a series of portable signs or signalling devices and will experiment with developing “wearables” which will be used during a performance for the Velo-city Bike Parade.

Workshops will take place at a location close to city centre on 3 Saturdays in May. Places are limited to 12 participants (adults / teenagers over 16 years). Please email bikeplanes@gmail.com to book a place a read more about the project here.

Be Part of the Largest Cycle Parade in Dublin This Year

Dublin City Council are organising a Dublin Bay North Cycle Parade as part of Velo-city 2019. It’s taking place on the afternoon of Wednesday 26 June 2019, from Clontarf Promenade (junction of Alfie Byrne Road and Clontarf Road) and going to St. Anne’s Park.

The organisers would like volunteers with Dublin Cycling Campaign to be an active part of the celebration of cycling, and are recruiting volunteers to help with different aspects of marshalling the cycle.

Please get in touch to volunteer through the form on our website. Positions are open for some of the following roles:
  • Assistance with organising of delegates at start of parade 
  • Assistance with organising of community groups
  • Lead Cycle Marshals: pace-makers - mainly to ensure pace is not too quick
  • Rear Cycle Marshals: 1-2 at end of each wave 
  • Cycling Assistants: assisting anyone having difficulties along route 
  • Return Trip Cycle Marshals
  • St. Anne’s Park Bike Parking 
  • Coordinating activity set-up / encouraging people into activities
  • Liaison with arts projects 

All selected volunteers will be eligible for vouchers for the tasty food stalls that’ll be set up in St. Anne’s Park. More information available here

Tell all of your friends, family and colleagues to join us next month on the 26th for what is going to be a massive cycle for all.

Welcome Velo-city 2019 delegates to stay with you

Help make Velo-city 2019 in Dublin be as inclusive as possible for delegates from other countries by registering a spare room with WarmShowers.org.

It's a great way to meet and get to know cycling advocates from around the world. More information here.

Cycle Campaigning Delegation Presents in Leinster House

On Thursday 9th May 2019, a delegation from Dublin Cycling Campaign and Cyclist.ie, gave a lunchtime presentation to an audience in Leinster House. The delegation comprised Dr Paul Corcoran (Chairperson of Dublin Cycling Campaign), Louise Williams (Convener of the Women on Wheels group) and Dr Damien Ó Tuama (National Cycling Coordinator with Cyclist.ie).

The audience included Senator Ivana Bacik (Labour), Alex White (Labour) as well as researchers and parliamentary assistants from several different parties and independent members of the Oireachtas. Check out the full story here

Clonakilty Bike Festival, Thu 6th to Sun 9th June

Clonakilty Bicycle Festival in West Cork is gearing up for its 8th season! Three very enthusiastic bike lovers have been organising the weekend since the beginning and this year they are celebrating their opening night with the opening of their new community bike workshop 'Clonakilty Bike Circus'.

Highlights for this year's event include a Family Beach Cycle, Bike Lovers Forum, Slow Bike Race, Estuary Bird Watch Cycle and Farm to Fork BBQ Cycle. The team is delighted to be welcoming special guest Jenni Gwiazdowski of the London Bike Kitchen and Damien Ó Tuama of Cyclist.ie.

This festival is highly recommended! 

#Allocate4Cycling Working Group

Following the launch of its Budget Submission 2019 in September 2018 and the Lobby Day in Buswells Hotel, set up a working group to progress the #Allocate4Cycling Campaign which involved individuals from a number of campaign groups including Maynooth Cycling Campaign.

There were five objectives to our work: Create a logo for #Allocate4Cycling, Clarify government expenditure on cycling, Make a submission to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport with an objective of being invited to present before them, Engage with political parties, and Publicise our efforts through the issue of press releases.

Overall, we feel that progress is being made but that the next twelve months will be critical due to elections (local, European and probably national), the All of Government Report on Climate Action and Budget 2020. Click here for a full report on how that meeting went. 

Join Us! Become a Member – or Even Better an Active Member!

The Dublin Cycling Campaign is a completely voluntary group working on behalf of all cyclists in Dublin. The more members we have, the quicker we can transform the city and culture for the better. Join today! As a member you will receive a Cycling Rewards Card that gives you discounts at over 40 cyclist friendly businesses

Active Members
We have an email list where we occasionally send out requests for help with specific jobs or events. If you would like to be added to the list please fill in our Volunteer Form. Being on the list is not an obligation to do work, but you might see something you would like to help out with.
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