Opened in November 2024 after a series of delays, the protected Clontarf to City Centre bike lane is Dublin’s first continuous cycle route from the city centre to the suburbs, covering 2.7km and offering what Ireland’s National Transport Authority described as “revolutionary” safe, segregated cycle facilities into “a very busy part of the city centre”.
According to Dublin City Council, within the first month of the infrastructure opening, the number of cyclists using the route was up 10 per cent compared to pre-pandemic levels, while data collected last summer showed that 734 people were cycling on the lane between 8am and 9am on weekdays, the equivalent of eight double-decker buses.
The success of the Clontarf route has continued to grow in recent months, with one Green Party politician reporting this week that they handed out 400 bike lights to commuters along the North Strand Road, a residential area in the north of the Irish capital, in under an hour, despite many failing to stop.
Dublin Cycling Campaign handing out lights to commuters (credit: Dublin Cycling Campaign)
Volunteers from the Dublin Cycling Campaign and similar groups typically spend part of each winter issuing the free ‘back-up’ lights, usually provided by the National Transport Authority or the Road Safety Authority, to cyclists across the country.
“We gave out 400 free bicycle lights with the Irish Cycling Campaign on North Strand in under an hour, and not everyone had the time to stop,” Green Party councillor Donna Cooney told IrishCycle.com this week.
“It was amazing to see so many people cycling, coming along the C2CC cycleway, or off the Royal Canal at this cycling crossing.”
Cooney added that while she frequently cycles along the route, including at rush hour, volunteering to hand out the lights afforded her a broader perspective on the number of people using Dublin’s protected cycling infrastructure.
“I’ve never seen so many people of all ages cycling in Ireland, and this was a wet, dark January evening,” she said.
“It was amazing, it was more like Amsterdam. It really proves the build it and they will come theory.”
However, as noted above, some local motorists aren’t convinced that Dublin is quite vying for secession to the Netherlands, at least in cycling terms, just yet.
In June, we reported that a 40-second video posted on Dublin City Council’s Facebook page, showing a steady stream of cyclists using the cycle lane in rush hour in North Strand, sparked a bizarre debate on social media, where some users speculated that the clip was “staged” and that the cyclists featured in it were actors, paid by the local authority to promote the protected infrastructure.
These conspiracy theories, spread by Facebook users purporting to live close to the cycle route, seemed to centre on the conception that the bike lane is rarely used, and that the council’s video was an attempt to make it appear popular.
“Where exactly was that filmed, and at what time, please?” asked apparent local Garrett OD in the comments under the video. “Also, can you confirm that no volunteers, paid actors, or other parties with a vested interest in promoting the cycle lane featured in this video?”
This theory seemed to catch on in the comments, with one user writing “someone shouted action” and another describing the clip as a “gathering of Green Party employees from Dublin City Council”.
Unsurprisingly, many locals were baffled by the conspiracy theories proliferating in the wake of the council’s short video of the cycle lane.
“DCC hired 23 actors? That’s a novel theory,” a member of the public wrote in response to one doubter, who was also told to “get a grip”.
“If I were to debunk a conspiracy theory, I’d have a look at the vehicular traffic and work out it was morning rush hour, but because cyclists get into town in a consistent time period, my theory would say that this was taken around 8.40am.
“Which happens to be when it is very busy on the cycle path. I’d also theorise that you weren’t on one of the bikes.”
“Are you actually local or do you have blinkers on?” another user asked. “It’s like that every morning, take the tinfoil hat off, the only thing wrong is the private vehicles in the bus lane.”
A few other cyclists emphasised the route’s popularity, noting that the volume of cyclists in the clip posted by the council is now the norm, especially during commuting hours.
“I’ve been on a health buzz recently and as the weather is nice I cycle that way to work. Usually a similar amount of cyclists to what is in the video,” one said, before noting the problems still associated with the infrastructure.
“Some weird signalling sequence along the route that is hard to figure out and difficult enough to overtake slower riders as the lane is narrow and there are still conflict points where cars block the lane or turn across you suddenly, which is particularly bad when the cycle lane spits you out at Connolly Station.”
‘Cyclists please dismount’ sign, Dublin (credit: @donna_cooney1 on Twitter/X)
As we reported the previous month, those teething problems for the relatively new cycle lane were exacerbated by the council’s decision to close part of the route in Clontarf and tell cyclists to dismount and push their bikes – prompting another backlash aimed at the local authority, this time from the city’s cycling population.
No official detour was offered after the route was closed without advance notice – with one local councillor noting that the works were not supposed to take place until June – and the signs were positioned after cyclists cross the road to access the path.
“This is ridiculous, where is the traffic management plan? Cycling is a legitimate form of transport,” Deputy Lord Mayor Donna Cooney said at the time, describing the situation just after 5pm as “chaos”, as pedestrians and dismounted cyclists were funnelled into a narrow stretch of pavement between the barriers.