On Thursday 9th May 2019, a delegation from Dublin Cycling Campaign and Cyclist.ie delivered a lunchtime presentation 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 and An Taisce). The audience included Senator Ivana Bacik (Labour), Alex White (Dublin Constituency Candidate in the European Parliament for Labour) as well as researchers and parliamentary assistants from several different parties and independent members of the Oireachtas.

The main messages we were conveying were, firstly, that there needs to be much greater consideration and reflection on the particular mobility needs of women given the striking under-representation of women amongst everyday cyclists (as per Census data), especially in regard to the design of facilities and the perceived social safety of some routes, particularly at night time. Secondly, we stressed the need for cycling to be an equal partner in the mobility system, with users paying for the full external costs of their mobility choices, and with the wider societal benefits of active mobility being fully internalized (one of the policy goals of the ECF’s Manifesto for the European Elections) - and hence for at least 10% of the transport budget to be allocated to cycling. Thirdly, we spoke about our #IBIKEIVOTE campaign for the local and EP elections (which is all about encouraging cyclists to get out and vote, and vote for pro-cycling candidates!), and the cycle protest to the Dáil on Wednesday 15th May, meeting at 5.15pm on Merrion Square West (opposite the National Gallery of Ireland) - details here.

Overall, this behind-the-scenes work is keeping cycling on the political agenda. Well done to everyone who contributed today, and a special thanks to Janet Horner, Secretarial Assistant to Senator Alice-Mary Higgins of the Civil Engagement Group, for organising the session in the AV room of Leinster House. Note that slides of the presentation can be found as a PDF below.