Ryan: Dublin 'could be great cycling city'

Dublin can become one of the great cycling cities of the world like Amsterdam or Copenhagen, a Government minister said today.

Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Eamon Ryan also said Dublin Bay’s coastline can be developed like the famous Venice Beach boardwalk in California.

But he warned that the capital’s streets are still not safe enough for bicycles because they are choked up with cars and trucks.

The Green Party TD founded a successful cycling tours business in the 1980s and regularly pedals to his department’s offices by the Grand Canal.

He said: “Cycling has got a lot going for it – it’s quick, clean, social, healthy.

“However, it’s still dangerous to get around Dublin on a bike. It’s a city dominated by the car. There are still trucks in the city centre. There was a woman killed a few weeks ago in a truck accident.

“But I believe that Dublin has the potential to become one of the great cycling cities in the world like Amsterdam or Copenhagen. We will only get there if we make cycling safer.”

Mr Ryan also said that converting disused railway lines into a network of national cycle paths could be achieved here like in Britain.

Sustrans has created 16,000km (10,000 miles) of dedicated cycle routes across the UK.

Transport and Marine Minister Noel Dempsey currently has responsibility for cycling infrastructure but Mr Ryan said he will be lobbying hard at Cabinet level on these issues.

The father-of-four also suggested that children should be provided with safe cycling routes to school.

“If kids grow up without bikes, it’s very difficult to get them into cycling in their late teens. Cycling at school age makes for better health and better parenting.”

Mr Ryan travelled as a student in the US and Australia before establishing Irish Cycling Safaris in 1989. It is now run by his sister Marion.

The firm runs tours around scenic areas like the Ring of Kerry and the Glens of Antrim.

The Dublin South TD was also a former chairman of the Dublin Cycling Campaign lobby in the early 1990s.