Why is cycling in Ireland such a struggle?

Opinion: if we're serious about making cycling a normal means of getting around, we need all involved to work together across sectors to get it right

By Robert Egan, TCD

Cycling as a means of travel is often communicated to the public in two ways: the benefits to the person on the bike and its unique risks as a mode of transport. In this respect, the communication of cycling in public discourse often speaks to the individual, appealing to their reason to either encourage cycling or institute the practice of caution when cycling through the use of safety equipment.

It also presents a dilemma: cycling is good for you and something you should do as a responsible citizen, yet is also a risky activity to engage in which has to be avoided or handled with extreme care. Indeed, cyclists are often described as 'vulnerable road users' and strategies for staying safe while cycling are broadly and routinely prescribed to cyclists. People cycling are often held responsible for the vulnerability they encounter when cycling, but where does this originate and what does it mean?

Moving away from an explicit focus on individual vulnerability and personal responsibility, various groups have expanded the notion of what vulnerability means for people cycling and have directed responsibility elsewhere. Among cycling activist groups across the island, segregated cycling infrastructure has been demanded and local authorities such as Dublin City Council and DLRCC have made bold efforts to answer this call.

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From RTÉ Radio 1's Drivetime, Fine Gael TD Ciaran Cannon on his very serious cycling accident

Groups such as I BIKE Dublin have exposed – and expose themselves in protest – to the rampant illegal parking in cycle lanes in the absence of official punishment. Stayin' Alive at 1.5 have lobbied for many years to legislate safe passing distances to combat the everyday acts of ‘close passing’ that people cycling experience when sharing the road with people driving, with limited success.

These Irish social movements reveal a struggle for recognition for cycling as a legitimate mode of travel on a par with driving. They push for cyclists to be viewed as legitimate public space users, worthy of respect, acknowledgement and appropriate state protection. As a result, cycling activists and some public authorities have increasingly acted on the structural nature of the vulnerability encountered by people cycling. In doing so, they have moved away from a notion of vulnerability as fundamentally an individual matter that is plausibly addressed through the exercise of personal responsibility.

I started my research with a relatively open-ended curiosity concerning how cyclists in Dublin deal with matters of risk. But what I discovered in interviews with a diverse group of people who cycle in Dublin city is that matters of risk co-exist with matters of rights and responsibilities. Indeed, they are often experienced all at once when cycling in Dublin.

From RTÉ Radio 1's Today With Claire Byrne, discussion on cycling with Sheila O'Brien, who took up cycling two years ago, and Barry Meehan from The Cycling Blog

Unsurprisingly, problems around the design and condition of public spaces where people are expected to cycle were continuously raised. These included mixing with high-speed vehicular traffic, cycle lanes offering illusory protection, potholes and dangerous cycle surfaces and the pockets of exposure that characterise the highly disconnected cycle network of Dublin, where one is suddenly plunged into the trajectory of people driving. As one participant put it, many cycle spaces are "nominal" rather than "protective".

However, more potently, matters of disregard by other public space users – particularly but not only motorists – were unanimously recounted. From widespread parking in cycle lanes to close passing and failure to yield, a plethora of different forms of disregard were described by participants, many of which were considered everyday, routine occurrences. Ranging from acts of ‘blatant disregard’ and aggression to unintentional ignorance, participants described the fear, humiliation and anger of being treated as a road user who is considered unworthy of respect and due care.

What made matters worse was the sense of powerlessness following incidents of disregard and endangerment. Many talked about their disappointing experiences in dealing with the authorities responsible for enforcing and protecting the rights of cyclists and other road users. One participant claimed to have systematically reported over 100 illegal incidents of parking in a designated cycle lane only to never receive a response. "I got the impression", he put it, "that you’re more likely to be stopped as a cyclist than you are as a motorist".

From RTÉ Radio 1's Drivetime, Michael Ahern from the National Transport Authority on plans for cycle lanes and greenways nationwide

It seems cycling in Dublin requires a continuous struggle to be recognised and respected as a legitimate public space user, whether in dedicated cycle spaces or the shared spaces of public roads. If not a struggle, one must resign themselves to being endangered and, perhaps more significantly, being disrespected as a matter of course in order to sustain cycling.

If we as a society are serious about making cycling a normal means of getting around, we need planners, educators, legislators, citizens, and policing authorities to work together to provide conditions of robust entitlement to public space for people cycling. Across sectors, we need to acknowledge and address the multi-faceted, structural nature of the vulnerability that people cycling encounter and address the unfavourable infrastructural, cultural and institutional conditions that leave people cycling in a situation of precarious entitlement. If we don’t address these conditions yet continue to encourage cycling, what is the freedom to choose cycling other than a ‘nominal’ freedom?

This article is based on research carried out by the author and Dr. Mark Philbin in the School of Nursing, Psychotherapy and Community Health at DCU.

Dr. Robert Egan is an ENABLE Research Fellow at TCD. He is working on a project on cycle parking and ecargo bikes in partnership with Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council and Smart Sandyford.

The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ

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