Cork religious community claims cycle lane will cause 'huge health and safety problems' for parishioners

Fr John Fitzgerald, the director of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, said the proposed cycle path route would be an unfair intrusion on elderly residents of the monastery’s infirmary

The planned two-way cycle lane is included in plans published by the National Transport Authority and will skirt the car park of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart on Western Road. File picture: Eddie O'Hare

A religious community says a planned cycle lane running through its grounds as part of the Luas Cork project will adversely affect its elderly residents, while posing a health and safety risk to its parishioners.

The two-way cycle lane is included in plans published by the National Transport Authority (NTA), initially proposed as part of BusConnects, and now as part of the preferred route for Luas Cork.

Under the proposals, the cycle lane would come down the Wilton Road, crossing the Carrigrohane Road by the Crow’s Nest and going through the green area by the Kingsley pedestrian bridge.

There, a new skew bridge would cross the River Lee’s south channel a few metres downstream of the Kingsley bridge, joining a boardwalk along the northern riverbank before then joining the grounds of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart.

Skirting the religious community’s car park, it would cut across the order’s Heart Field, before exiting onto the Western Road across from the Mardyke Walk.

The missionaries say the cycle lane will enter its grounds beside the back window of the infirmary of its monastery building, negatively affecting elderly residents. The community also says the cycle lane will pose a health and safety risk to the locals who use its parish hall and car park.

They suggest there is a viable alternative in expanding an existing walkway, which runs around the community’s grounds, to include a cycleway. That walkway begins at the Kingsley bridge and skirts the back of the Sacred Heart complex, joining the Western Road by the Thomas Davis Bridge.

Fr John Fitzgerald is the director of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart for the Irish province, based in the Sacred Heart parish centre. He said the proposed cycle path route would be an unfair intrusion on elderly residents of the monastery’s infirmary, and cause “huge health and safety problems” for the young children and older people using the parish centre.

What's your view on this issue?

You can tell us here

“We are hoping now that we are dealing with Luas that the planned route of the cycle path through our property will be amended,” he said.

“We also want to ensure the safety of people using the entrance to our car park, which we feel will be obscured by the cycle path, so that we will have free entry into our own property, plus that we will have access to our sacred space in the Heart Field.” 

A Luas Cork spokesperson said: “Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) is actively engaging with the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart and has noted the concerns raised. These and all concerns will be considered during the design development process.”