Category Archives: Sustainability

NEWSLETTER NOTES for November 2025

Posted on by
Reply

AGM

Maynooth Cycling Campaign will be holding its AGM at 8:00pm on Tuesday 11th November in the ICA Hall, Leinster Street. Everyone is welcome!

Funding for Local Climate Action 

The Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment has given Kildare County Council an allocation of €897,000 for climate related projects by communities to improve their local area. The project themes include community energy and travel. Maynooth Cycling Campaign welcomes suggestions for projects from members and non-members. The scheme is open until 22nd December.

Mill Street

There have been a lot of complaints on social media in recent weeks of congestion in Maynooth, especially at peak times. Most put the blame on Kildare County Council’s redesign of Mill Street and/or its construction. Everyone is entitled to their opinion but many of the comments are ill-informed. 

Last month, Maynooth Cycling Campaign website published “Mill Street An Alternative View” which gives a different opinion to drivers. One of the key questions is whether or not the Mill Street/Main Street junction was modelled for buses and if it was constructed in accordance with the design. 

Default speed limit

A coalition of road safety campaigners including the Irish Cycling Campaign is calling on the Minister for Transport, Darragh O’Brien to issue a commencement order without delay for the default urban speed limit of 30km/h as defined in the Road Traffic Act 2024. By issuing a commencement order the Minister would require local authorities to apply a default 30km/h to the 85 currently defined built-up areas (defined in the Local Government Act 2001). This is a straightforward process for local authorities and would mean that 85 cities and towns would get the immediate benefits of safer 30km/h speed limits. Maynooth Cycling Campaign supports this call. While regrettably this would not include Maynooth itself, our neighbours in Leixlip, Newbridge and Naas would benefit from its implementation. The full Press Release is available here.

Parking and its Cost 

A secure car parking space in Manor Mills has recently been advertised for sale at a cost of €25,000. In the past when local authorities specified minimum car parking standards rather than maximum car parking standards as they do now, the cost to developers of not providing a car parking space was €10,000. While housing costs have increased significantly, it seems that the cost of car parking has kept pace. 

In contrast, Kildare County Council charges an annual fee of €5 for a Resident’s Parking Permit. Admittedly, this does not guarantee a parking place, but it is in effect another subsidy for car owners. It compares to a charge of €100 per year by Dublin City for a place in a bike hanger.

Bollards at Moyglare Road

And still on the theme of parking – Maynooth Cycling Campaign welcomes the erection of bollards adjacent to St. Mary’s Boys School in order to deter parking on the shared path for pedestrians and cyclists. However some drivers, who are slow to take the hint, have simply parked further away. It is time for the Garda Siochana to do their job properly and enforce the law in relation to parking. In Japan, if there is no sign to indicate that you are allowed to park, you have to assume that it is prohibited. Perhaps it is time to introduce this rule to Ireland.

Most Dangerous Junction in Maynooth

Is the Glenroyal junction on the Straffan Road the most dangerous junction in Maynooth for vulnerable road users? On two occasions recently, our attention has been drawn to incidents where drivers leaving the Glenroyal broke red lights at speed and proceeded through a second set of lights narrowly missing pedestrians who had begun to cross the Straffan Road after receiving a green light. 

Is the Glenroyal junction on the Straffan Road the most dangerous junction in Maynooth for vulnerable road users? On two occasions recently, our attention has been drawn to incidents where drivers leaving the Glenroyal broke red lights at speed and proceeded through a second set of lights narrowly missing pedestrians who had begun to cross the Straffan Road after receiving a green light. 

MILL STREET – AN ALTERNATIVE VIEW

Posted on by
Reply

An atypical view of Mill Street during reconstruction works at 9:45am on a single morning at 9:45am but an actual picture as opposed to an AI generated or photoshopped one.

There have been a lot of complaints in recent weeks of congestion in Maynooth, especially at peak times. Most put the blame on Kildare County Council’s redesign of Mill Street and/or its construction. Everyone is entitled to their opinion but many of the comments are ill-informed. 

 In Maynooth town centre, traffic lanes carry up to nearly 20,000 vehicles per day,  the majority of which are private cars. This is more than six times the threshold for a major road as defined under the Environmental Noise regulations. Congestion is caused by too many cars which is why Irish political parties and governments across the world (except in the USA) want to reduce private traffic in favour of more space-efficient and sustainable mobility. During the reconstruction of Mill Street, drivers of cars and other motorised vehicles continue to have use of two lanes as they had before and will have afterwards. Pedestrians, on the other hand, are often unable to use one side of the street, the temporary paths are often barely wide enough for two people to pass and the surface leaves a lot to be desired. As for cyclists, they are directed to dismount and push their vehicle. 

Mill Street-Main Street Junction

  • Engineers can model how much space vehicles of different sizes and types need to manoeuvre around a corner or bend. If they haven’t modelled it, they should determine what is required before blindly butchering the newly constructed paths.
  • Drivers need time to get used to new layouts. 
  • Tyre marks on kerbs are examples of bad driving and show that the kerb is doing what it is supposed to do – namely protect people on the footpath. 
  • The width of junctions shouldn’t be decided by bad drivers. 
  • Last week, watching traffic during the evening peak, for about 30 minutes, 150 vehicles turned left from Mill Street to Main Street. These included three buses, two of which were blocked from accessing the junction by car drivers wanting to turn right and one bus which was able to continue. While the two buses blocked about five cars each, 138 cars were able to get through.  Many of the cars were only single occupancy compared to the buses that appeared to be carrying multiple passengers. So who is holding up who?
  • The junction can cope with a number of right turning cars but on a number of occasions when there were too many or when they were badly positioned, even cars had difficulty in getting past. In many urban areas, right hand turns are banned or restricted in the interest of traffic flow. 
  • On some turns of the lights, traffic from Parson Street received a green light to continue to Main Street but ignored the Yellow Box.  They stopped in the middle of the junction because the street ahead was already full. When the lights turned to green for left turning traffic from Mill Street, they were unable to proceed. This had nothing to do with the corner or narrowness of the street and everything to do with too many cars.
  •  If two people want to pass through a doorway at the same time, one will wait while the other person passes through. If two large vehicles, one from Main Street and one from Mill Street can’t take a turn at the same time,  a competent driver will do the same  – give way to the first with a delay of about 10 seconds. 

Width of Mill Street

  • I do not know what post construction width KCC has proposed for Mill Street but the full width will not be available during construction due to the need to protect construction staff.
  • There are 3m wide traffic lanes in New York which are wide enough for American traffic.
  • In Utrecht, a road has recently been reconstructed with two traffic lanes which are each 2.75m wide, admittedly with a 1m strip in between. The road was designed for cars, lorries and buses.
  • Waze’s Driver Satisfaction Index – which analyzes the driving experiences of 65 million monthly users in 38 countries and 235 cities across the globe – named the Netherlands as the most satisfying place in the world to drive in 2015 and 2016 so the provision of cycle facilities does not necessarily mean worse conditions for drivers.
  • Governments traditionally constructed wider roads. The excessive space can clearly be seen after a snowfall by the amount of road with undisturbed snow. Now, they construct  narrower roads in order to reduce the speed of traffic and to decrease the number of pedestrian and cyclist fatalities. 

In north Kildare, the M6 Motorway is often congested with traffic stretching back to Maynooth and with a queue of cars from the intersection as far back as Taghadoe. There is congestion in both Celbridge and Leixlip although those towns have no current comparable works to Maynooth. Some of the comments on the Notice Boards refer to taking an hour to drive from one side of Maynooth to the other. We live in a democracy so people are free to continue to do that if they so wish. However, with the future development of housing and the resulting additional traffic as well as the need for parking, a one hour delay is going to become a lot more common unless there is significant take-up in active and sustainable travel. More people will choose walking and cycling as the active travel networks expands due to continuing political support. If not, the big losers will be drivers who have no choice but to drive.

Is Railpark the worst place to live in Maynooth? And is walking and cycling access at fault?

Posted on by
Reply

Is the Railpark housing estate the worst place to live in Maynooth? (Spoiler: It isn’t.) Then why, at a number of public meetings during the summer, did some Maynooth residents imply a feature that is working well in Railpark would mean a host of problems if applied to other areas?

The meetings were called to discuss the impact of proposals in the Maynooth and Environs Local Area Plan 2025-29. The Local Area Plan (LAP) covers a broad range of issues related to the future development of Maynooth. It includes proposals that are designed to contribute to Ireland meeting its commitment to reduce carbon emissions by 50% by 2030. However, many of the discussions focused on pedestrian and cycling permeability – the retrofitting of active travel access through existing adjacent developments, mainly housing estates.

One such proposal linked the Kilcock Road and Crewhill — a new high-density development to the north-west of the town via Maynooth University and the unconnected residential estates of Moyglare Abbey and Moyglare Village.

It was claimed that retrofitting an active travel access would lead to increased anti-social behaviour and increased littering. One attendee quoted an unnamed member of the Garda Síochána who had warned that opening up estates would lead to increased crime. It was claimed that a direct link between Moyglare Abbey and the university would lead to Moyglare Abbey turning into a car park for students. But no such link was even proposed in the LAP. Concerns were also expressed that the openings would be so wide that cars would also be able to use them and that drivers would not see cyclists at a junction due to inadequate sightlines. (For clarity – cars will not be able to use the access points.)

This proposal was designed to provide an alternative to Moyglare Road where, at peak times, there is heavy congestion on crowded footpaths, and many secondary school students cycle on the road instead of an adjacent shared path. At school closing time, traffic queues stretch to nearly a kilometre from the Kilcock Road junction to beyond the GAA clubhouse. It was pointed out that improving permeability would be good for health by reducing air and noise pollution. The high level of traffic congestion would also be reduced, but the mood of the majority who attended the meeting was to oppose the permeability links regardless of any benefits that they might bring.

The irony is that Maynooth residents don’t have to go too far to see good examples of active travel permeability. Most of the estates off the Straffan Road are permeable. On the west side, Kingsbry, Beaufield and Greenfield estates are linked. Parson Hall and Ashleigh are also linked. On the east side, Railpark estate is particularly good as it is linked to both Rockfield and Parklands, as well as having a pedestrian link to the Straffan Road.

If the fears expressed by Moyglare residents are valid, Railpark must be the worst place to live in Maynooth. In fact, it is estates like Moyglare Abbey and Moyglare Hall that are badly designed in regard to mobility. So, the LAP presents a rare opportunity to mitigate the poor outcomes of past planning decisions.

Public consultations are an important part of local democracy. However, democracy is not just about the number of submissions for and against a scheme. The proposal to provide greater permeability and increase active travel has implications for climate change and road safety as well as health in Maynooth. This concerns all the people of Maynooth and not just those who reside close to the proposed openings. The provision of permeability links is a very modest proposal to reduce our carbon emissions.

The backdrop to this includes Ireland still recovering from one of its most severe storms that was linked to two deaths, other European countries suffering extreme climate events involving multiple fatalities, and 2024 was confirmed as the warmest year on record globally. It’s also at a time when the consensus between Europe and the USA on climate is under threat like never before.

Given that the addition of a “relatively” small number of people cycling and walking provokes such opposition from people who are opposed to change and happy with the current status quo, then what will happen when people are asked to make major changes to their lifestyle?

In a recent appeal against a refusal for a proposed wind farm in Laois, the High Court stated that “rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes to all aspects of society and the economy” and “an immediate end to business as usual” by consenting authorities is required to cut greenhouse gas emissions and ensure planetary survival.

Maynooth University is an important institution in the town. It is one of the Irish universities that is noted for research on climate change and lecturers there collaborate with their international colleagues. It is disappointing that the university authorities did not consider the LAP important enough to make a submission. It is particularly disappointing as the university is also the biggest single generator of traffic in the town.

Ireland was fortunate to rely on expert medical advice during the Covid epidemic rather than on non-experts. Expert advice on the LAP from the university authorities could have reassured a lot of people who are fearful of or opposed to change.

Local councillors are responsible for approving Local Area Plans, and while they have a responsibility to represent the views of the public, they also have a responsibility to show leadership. Central government ministers and their departments primarily fund local government. Central government also sets down national policies so their views cannot be ignored by local government.

Prior to Christmas 2024, in their submission of amendments to the Draft LAP, the Office of the Planning Regulator, which reviews the performance of planning authorities, recommended that all the permeability links deleted by councillors be reinstated. However, on February 17th, at the meeting of the municipal district on the LAP, councillors voted to proceed with deleting 12 of the 34 walking links and 1 of the 3 cycle links that had been proposed to be abandoned.

With only five years until the next local government elections and one year after that to the 2030 target of a 50% reduction in carbon emissions, the decisions of current councils nationwide will decide where Ireland will stand by the key target date. Kildare is just the latest council to demonstrate the disconnect between government policy and the actions of local councillors. Many groups and individuals will be watching to see how this saga plays out.

This article was edited post publishing to correct an error in the numbers of links for abandonment.

Maynooth Cycling Campaign’s Political Asks

Posted on by
Reply

SUMMARY

  1. Celbridge Road – our top priority is for the delivery of improved cycling and walking provision at  Celbridge Road where two primary schools are located.
  2. “Leprechaun” Climate Targets  – for Kildare County Council to get rid of “Leprechaun” Climate Targets -targets which are unachievable as adding up the percentage modes of travel comes to 150% rather than 100% of journeys.
  3. WHO’s H.E.A.T. tool – for Kildare County Council to introduce WHO’s H.E.A.T. tool to calculate the benefits of active travel schemes and to estimate reductions in carbon emissions as carried out in multiple countries.
  4. Reporting of Committee Minutes – for Kildare County Council to publish draft minutes of SPC and Sustainable Transport Forum meetings within 2 weeks as opposed to the current practice of circulating them nearly three months after the meeting.
  5. Kiss the Gates Goodbye – for Kildare County Council (1) to identify substandard accesses to greenways and other active travel routes which are barriers to entry by cyclists and mobility impaired people; and (2) to seek funding for their removal.
  6. Safety Concerns at Moyglare Educational Campus – we support the concerns of the three school principals as detailed in their letter dated 21st April to Kildare County Council re taking in charge, pedestrian crossing, shared paths and Moyglare Road traffic calming.

FURTHER DETAILS

1.         Celbridge Road

Celbridge Road forms part of the R405 regional road. Two primary schools open onto it – with more than 850 pupils attending Gaelscoil Uí Fhiaich and Maynooth Educate Together. Kildare County Council  granted planning to them more than 20 years ago, yet planning permission was granted despite having no cycle facilities and substandard walking facilities. Kildare County Council proposed a scheme some three or four years ago – a design that we opposed on account of its very poor quality. The scheme has been redesigned but now has been held up for reasons of cost.

The EPA in their recent report on progress on meeting 2030 carbon reduction targets stated that even if everything proposed was actually carried out, Ireland’s emissions would still only reduce by 29% instead of 51%.  The continuing failure to provide quality walking and cycling to school cannot be allowed to continue – Celbridge Road should be the number one active travel priority. 

2.         “Leprechaun” Climate Targets 

As part of its action on Climate Change, the Kildare County Development Plan 2023-2029 gives most recent estimates of how Kildare people travel using different modes. It also includes a number of targets for future change in modes of travel.

The baseline figures for existing modes were derived from the Census 2016 results. The baseline figures and proposed targets are as follows:

Mode of Travel To Work  Baseline    Target  

Walking		6%10%
Cycling1%20%
Bus5%13%
Train 5%14%
Car Share4%8%
Car74%50%
TOTAL95%115%
(Note – An estimated 4% of people were working from home giving a total of 99% with a 1% rounding error.)
Mode of Travel To Education  Baseline    Target  
Walk28%50%
Cycling2%15%
Public Transport20%25%
Car50%40%
TOTAL100%130%

The baseline travel percentages are fine. They essentially add up to 100% for travel to work and 100% for travel to education. The Census gives the actual numbers so, if you want, you can combine the work and education numbers and calculate the overall percentages.

The problem is with the targets. At the draft stage of the County Development Plan, Maynooth Cycling Campaign thought that it was an error  but after raising it for a second time, the Council stated that they should be

“…. aiming for as high as possible for the sustainable modes and less high for the unsustainable ones”.

This is true but the targets should also be “reasonable” and “achievable”. They should be challenging for those who have to achieve them but not something so unrealistic that those who have to achieve them, throw in the towel at the start.  The key principle is that the total target  percentages should add up to 100% so if you increase the percentage target for some modes of travel, you MUST decrease the percentage target for other modes of travel. The European Cyclists’ Federation which has more than 40 years of working for increased cycling  has identified monitoring and reporting as a key requirement in effecting modal change.  Adopting modal share percentages in excess of 100% makes no sense except as a “Get Out of Gaol” ticket for the future failure of KCC to deliver on the said targets. It will also impact  unfavourably on Kildare’s contribution to the Irish government’s commitment of a 50% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030.

Leprechaun economics was a term coined by Nobel winning economist Paul Krugman to describe the 26.3 per cent rise in Irish 2015 GDP, later revised to 34.4 per cent. The adoption of Leprechaun targets is related to Leprechaun economics in that both are factual but both have a tenuous link to reality. 

3.         WHO’s H.E.A.T. tool

The World Health Organisation (WHO) developed a spreadsheet to calculate the benefits of active travel schemes and to estimate reductions in carbon emissions.

In Kildare, there is rarely a measurement of existing levels of walking or cycling and no forecast for future use of proposed active travel infrastructure. As a result there is no benchmark to assess the success of a scheme or even to alert if levels of walking or cycling are reduced.

4.         Reporting of Committee Minutes

After committees meetings of, for example, SPC and Sustainable Transport Forum, Kildare County Council circulates draft minutes some 10-12 weeks later to committee members for review, The  minutes are then approved at the next meeting which often takes place 13 weeks after the previous one and may be uploaded to the Council website any time after that. Some minutes are  uploaded quickly afterwards while others are not uploaded unless someone draws attention to their absence.

There is no good reason why draft minutes could not be uploaded to the Council website within 2 weeks of a meeting. The current practice is indicative that the meeting is a talking shop and one where no followup actions are required to be carried out as a matter of urgency.

5.         Kiss the Gates Goodbye

Kildare County  Council, unlike many other local authorities,  has responsibility for very few roads or footways which contain barriers like kissing gates to active travel.

However as a Planning Authority, Kildare County Council has overseen and/or granted permission to Waterways Ireland for substandard accesses on and to the Royal and Grand Canals. In particular, there is a series of substandard accesses which are not to best international practice or meet Irish standards between Leixlip and Kilcock on the Royal Canal Greenway. Recent works on the Royal Canal at Louisa Bridge and on the Grand Canal at Sallins and elsewhere also ignore the advice by the Minister for Transport that accesses should be designed in line with the principles of universal access. The result is that Maynooth Cycling Campaign is unable to travel from Maynooth to Kilcock along the greenway with our Cycling Without Age trishaw.

Kildare County Council should identify substandard accesses to greenways and other active travel routes which are barriers to entry by cyclists and mobility impaired people, and seek funding for their removal.

6.        Safety Concerns at Moyglare Educational Campus

Kildare County Council should consider the concerns expressed by the school principals and propose how best to reduce the risk of harm to pupils.  In our view, Kildare County Council’s  choice of a shared path in a location with very high numbers of pedestrians was predictable – with pupils cycling on the road,  pupils cycling on the footpath opposite intended for pedestrians only and pupils taking alternative on-road routes where possible. Cyclists, elderly pedestrians and disability groups dislike shared paths. In Denmark and the Netherlands, the authorities segregate pedestrians and cyclists because of the risk of a collision arising from the different speeds. If Kildare County Council wants to emulate the level of cycling in such countries, councillors should not approve such schemes except in exceptional circumstances. It is accepted that there are locations where there are no reasonable alternatives.

Bikeweek Film Screening of MOTHERLAND

Posted on by
Reply

The screening of the film MOTHERLOAD on Thursday16th, as part of Bikeweek, has regrettably been cancelled. We apologise for any inconvenience.

It is hoped to show it at a later date in the year.

Waterways Ireland’s Demotion of Cycling

Posted on by
Reply

Waterways Ireland is in the process of revising its Byelaws. The previous ones were passed in 1988 more than 30 years ago so a revision has been long overdue.  The proposed Byelaws are arranged in some 40 sections. Most of the changes affect the boating fraternity but buried deep in the document is a clause which is aimed at cyclists.

Under Section 35 Protection of biodiversity, water quality, heritage, environment and prohibited activities,  Waterways Ireland includes subsection  (10) Prohibited Activity on canal property. The subsection refers to bicycles and powered personal transporters in two clauses

No person shall

(m) Use any bicycle, tricycle or powered personal transporter in a manner that endangers causes a nuisance to themselves and other users of any greenway.

(n) Exceed a speed of 15 kilometres per hour on any bicycle, tricycle or powered person transporter while using any greenway.

Maynooth Cycling Campaign has no issue with the first subclause. However, we strongly oppose the proposal to introduce a speed limit for cyclists on any Greenway or Blueway under the control of Waterways Ireland.

  • The general design speed for greenways is 30 km/h (ref TII Rural Cycleway Design (2022).
  • A bicycle is not legally obliged to have a speedometer. Therefore there is no way for a cyclist to know if he or she is travelling above or below a specific speed.
  • The introduction of such a proposal would discourage cyclists from using a greenway or blueway, and cause them to divert them to trafficked roads. Introducing such a proposal at a time when road fatalities are increasing sharply is wholly irresponsible.  
  • Extreme weather events are worsening as a result of climate change. The result of  suppressing the number of cyclists using the greenways and blueways will be to make it harder to meet our international obligations to reduce carbon emissions by 50% by 2030.
  • Internationally, many adult utility cyclists in urban areas travel in excess of 15 km/h. Imposing a limit of 15km/h for cyclists in rural areas in the vicinity of few other users is therefore ridiculous.
  • There is no speed limit on equivalent cycle facilities internationally. The introduction of such a speed limit would be to discourage international (as well as local) touring cyclists from using greenways along canals and waterways. This would reduce the potential financial benefits to adjacent businesses.  

Waterways Ireland claims that the revisions were introduced following research and consultation with key stakeholders. Certainly Maynooth Cycling Campaign was not consulted and neither was our parent body Cyclist.ie who, for many years, has campaigned for development of the Royal Canal as part of the trans-national EuroVelo Route 02 the Capitals Route which runs from Moscow to Galway.

Waterways Ireland should be encouraging cyclists instead of discouraging them. Waterways Ireland is noted for an ambivalent attitude to cyclists. Cyclists are potentially a greater source of income than walkers or boaters on many waterways but Waterways Ireland want to provide low quality cycling infrastructure. This was demonstrated by their provision of kissing gates in the past. It is demonstrated by the large number of substandard gates provided between Leixlip and Kilcock. This has been repeated with the barriers on the Royal Canal at Louisa Bridge where the openings arer 1.3m and 1.0m.  It is hardly rocket science. They just need to provide bollards at 1.5m spacing to enable all types of cycles but instead of learning from their mistakes, Waterways Ireland insist on repeating them.  

The closing date for submissions on the ByeLaws was the 2nd October but Waterways Ireland has extended the date for submissions until 27th October so there is still time to make your views known. To be fair to them, Waterways Ireland has announced that they will be having discussions with Cyclist.ie.

European Mobility Week

Posted on by
Reply

(This article was taken from the European Commission website.)

EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK is the European Commission’s flagship awareness-raising campaign on sustainable urban mobility. It encourages behavioural change in favour of active mobility, public transport and other clean, intelligent transport solutions.

The main event takes place from 16-22 September this year, culminating in the popular Car-Free Day. Local authorities are encouraged to use the main week to try out innovative planning measures, promote new infrastructure and technologies, measure air quality, and get feedback from the public.

Towns and cities are able to register all of the activities they plan to carry out to celebrate the campaign, including: organising activities focused on sustainable mobility during the main event week, implementing one or more permanent transport measures throughout the year, and holding a ‘Car-Free-Day’. Participating towns and cities are strongly encouraged to implement all three activities!

With more towns and cities joining every year, and with its huge media appeal, the campaign is widely recognised as a driving force towards sustainable urban mobility in Europe and beyond. In Ireland, the Dublin local authorities and Cork are participating. Kildare??? Eh, no…..

Progress Report on Maynooth Cycling Without Age

Posted on by
Reply

Delivery of Trishaw

Maynooth Cycling Campaign took possession of the Trio trishaw in early March and launched it publically at the St. Patricks Day Parade.

Training of Pilots

As we had 8-10  volunteer pilots, the first priority was training. We contacted Clara Clark who first set up the first Cycling Without Age chapter in Ireland in Dun Laoghaire. It took number of weeks to arrange a date that would suit volunteers in Maynooth and at the same time suit Clara. Training was eventually arranged for Saturday 27th May but only three were able to make the training . The Cycling Without Age manager received training some weeks later.

Currently, we have five people who have received  training to operate the trishaw and who are confident to take out members of the public. Four are pilots.

With a number of pilots fully trained, our second priority was to start offering cycles to the people who were unable to cycle on their own. After that, we planned to concentrate on increasing the availability of pilots.

We brought the trishaw to the Picnic in the Park which was organised by Maynooth Community Council and Kildare County Council (Climate Action Section). The objective was to publicise the trishaw and to offer cycles to members of the public without having to book.

Software

Maynooth Cycling Campaign proposes to use Book2Go software  – an internet based booking system which was developed by Copenhagen Cycles to manage pilots and bookings. It is an email based system. Final details have still to be confirmed.

Reporting System

We developed a reporting procedure for pilots to highlight either safety or mechanical concerns.

The report also records key data such as distance travelled and battery condition.

Open for Business

Maynooth Cycling Without Age opened for bookings on Saturday, Sunday and Bank Holiday Mondays from the start of August.

We have been in contact with Maynooth Access Group, Celbridge Access Group and Kildare Access Group to inform them of our operations. We have also contacted Maynooth Lodge Nursing Home, Moyglare Nursing Home and Parke House Nursing Home in Kilcock. We have had discussions with Maynooth Library and they agreed to make booking for people who prefer to book in person rather than via a smart phone or tablet.

For a number of reasons, we have not been in recent contact with Genil Training – St. John of God re use of the trishaw between Monday and Friday.

Next Steps

The next steps are to as follows:

  • Increase publicity and public awareness of Cycling Without Age
  • Organise a “Train the Trainer” session.
  • Organise a training session for the volunteer pilots who haven’t received training yet.
  • Organise a training session for John of God pilots.

Acknowledgement of Contribution

We would like to thank Kildare County Council, Kildare Sports Partnership and Healthy Ireland who have contributed financial support towards the purchase of the trishaw. Kildare County Council has also allocated funding for ongoing costs during the year from the Kildare Community Fund and from the Local Property Tax.

We are also grateful to Maynooth University for permission to store the trishaw on their premises.

TRANSPORT EMISSIONS CONTINUE IN THE WRONG DIRECTION 

Posted on by
Reply

Cyclist.ie Press Release – Urgent Pivots in Policy, Practice and the Sponsorship of Media Programs Needed

Cyclist.ie is incredibly concerned by the latest data released by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that show transport as by far the worst performing sector in Irish society and the economy in terms of tackling its emissions. 

The EPA’s data, as issued on 13 July 2023 (see [1] and [2] below), show that transport emissions increased by 6 per cent in 2022; transport’s emissions were 10.978 Mt CO2 eq in 2021 and this increased to 11.634 Mt CO2 eq in 2022. The EPA reports that “overall higher transport activity – both private cars and freight transport – is eroding the impact of electric vehicles.” 

Cyclist.ie is deeply disturbed by the absence of real and urgent action in transforming our transport system so that we can enter a rapid period of decarbonising the sector. We know from our legally binding sectoral emissions ceilings that transport needs to halve its emissions from 12 MtCO2eq (2018 figures) to 6 MtCO2eq by 2030 [2]. Furthermore, we are all acutely aware that the EPA’s figures have been released in the week that a heat wave is sweeping across parts of southern Europe, and temperatures are expected to surpass 40C (104F) in parts of Spain, France, Greece, Croatia and Turkey. [3] 

National Cycling Coordinator with Cyclist.ie and An Taisce, Dr. Damien Ó Tuama, stated “we are simply on the wrong trajectory with transport. At this point, emissions from transport need to be reducing every single year from here on in – not rising by 6% in a single year”. He continued: “We need rapid action in multiple domains immediately. We need to be increasing further the spend on high quality active travel schemes and the ‘quick-wins’ with enhancing public transport provision. When are we going to see a halt to the domination of our airwaves by adverts urging us to buy ever-bigger Sports Utility Vehicles for our micro-urban trips? When are we going to have our most popular public radio and TV shows not sponsored by car companies with the inevitable framing of ‘normal life’ as being characterised by owning super-sized 2000+ kg metal boxes?” 

Cyclist.ie asks – “where are the political and business leaders articulating a vision of a low carbon future where one can lead a fulfilled life without owning climate destructive personal transport vehicles? Where is the moral leadership on all of this?” Cyclist.ie points to the leadership shown in Paris recently where city hall is to impose higher parking fees on owners of SUVs in its battle to reduce pollution in the capital [4]. Vice-Chairperson of Cyclist.ie, Dave Tobin, added “We need similar policies introduced in Irish cities so as to completely rebalance how mobility happens. Without such urgent action, we are complicit in passing on a burning planetary ball to our children to deal with.” This is the opposite of the mature and responsible approach we now need. 

ENDS

Notes for Editors
Cyclist.ie – the Irish Cycling Advocacy Network, which brings together 35 groups/branches around Ireland who are campaigning locally on cycling safety and promotion, is the organised voice for cycling advocacy in Ireland. It was founded in 2008, building on the campaigning work of its founding member groups, who themselves came into being in the early and mid 1990s in response to the virtual exclusion of cycling and walking from transport policy and practice, and to the massive danger posed to walkers and cyclists by the systematic growth in motorised mobility. https://cyclist.ie/  

[1]  https://www.epa.ie/news-releases/news-releases-2023/irelands-2022-greenhouse-gas-emissions-show-a-welcome-decrease-but-much-work-remains-to-be-done.php 

[2] https://www.epa.ie/our-services/monitoring–assessment/climate-change/ghg/latest-emissions-data/

[3] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66183069

[4] https://www.gov.ie/en/press-release/dab6d-government-announces-sectoral-emissions-ceilings-setting-ireland-on-a-pathway-to-turn-the-tide-on-climate-change/

[5] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/11/paris-charge-suv-drivers-higher-parking-fees-tackle-auto-besity

PICNIC IN THE PARK

Posted on by
Reply

Maynooth Community Council working in partnership with Kildare County Council invite you to a great day out, the “Picnic in the Park”, on June 18th-there will be good food, ice cream, face painting, nature walks and various acts. Community groups will have their stalls for you to chat to them about all the wonderful and diverse activities that take place in our town.

With the focus this year is on sustainability and climate action, the event has a serious side and officials from the Climate Action Section will be present. With our interest in the the promotion of cycling as part of decarbonisation of transport, Maynooth Cycling Campaign will be there so if you are passing, why not drop in for a chat and find out our plans fpr the future.