Newsletter · 29 September 2026

Protect Our Children, Not Parking Spaces

Last week, a teenage girl cycling on Parsons Street was reported to have been injured in a collision with the driver of a vehicle. While Maynooth Cycling Campaign wishes her a swift recovery, we must face a harsh reality: this injury could have been far worse.

When Kildare County Council proposed a one-way trial on Parsons Street to protect vulnerable road users, driver objections took priority, and local councillors backed them. Now, history is repeating itself. Next Friday, the Maynooth Clane Municipal District will debate a motion by Cllr. Tim Durkan to remove protected pedestrian and cycle space at the start of the Dublin Road—all to reinstate a handful of parking spaces.

We cannot prioritise parking over the safety of our children. Here is why this motion must be rejected:

Protected Space for School Children: This infrastructure is adjacent to the Presentation Girls’ School which more than 600 girls attend. In Ireland, a staggering 1 in 25 boys cycle to school, but for girls, that number plummets to 1 in 250. Removing cycle infrastructure guarantees even fewer girls will ever choose to cycle.

Broken Targets: In the County Development Plan, councillors committed to a target of 15% of students cycling to school by 2029 (TM T3). The current level of cycling to Presentation Girls is extremely low. Actively dismantling cycle lanes makes achieving their own approved targets impossible.

The Proof is in the Bollards: Almost all the original bollards on this stretch were struck and damaged by vehicles. This proves how often drivers cross into the cycle track. It is infinitely better for a vehicle to hit a plastic bollard than a child on a bicycle.

Double Standards on “Park and Stride”: We ask young primary school children to “Park and Stride” to school for reasons of health and safety. Why can we not ask adult drivers to park in the ample spaces at Carton Retail Park and walk to Main Street?

Flouting National Policy: The Design Manual for Urban Roads and Streets (DMURS) legally places pedestrians and cyclists at the top of the road user hierarchy. Reallocating active travel space to motor vehicles directly contradicts both DMURS and national government climate and transport policies.

Ireland’s road fatalities have risen over the last two years. We must learn from history; in the 1970s, the Netherlands suffered a crisis where some three hundred children were killed annually before politicians finally prioritised vulnerable road users and transformed their streets.

Maynooth needs less traffic congestion, not more. Instead of removing cycle infrastructure, Maynooth Cycling Campaign calls on our councillors to upgrade the Dublin Road cycle facilities which are substandard, and to implement lower urban speed limits to protect our community.