On your bike: How Cork, Limerick and Waterford are playing catch-up for cycling commuters

Cycling has environmental, health, and economic benefits, but safer routes are needed to reverse its decline in popularity as a means of transport, writes Ellen O’Regan

Cork Cycling Campaign giving a workshop in JCI at the newly installed bike repair station. Picture: David O'Leary

Ireland used to be a cycling country.

In the 1930s, bicycles were all the rage in Ireland, dramatically changing the social lives of ordinary people in every parish in the country, and becoming one of the primary modes of transport. The National Museum of Ireland even has an exhibition dedicated to cycling.