DLR Cathaoirleach Cllr Jim O’Leary was presented with his official bicycle by the Dublin Cycling Campaign on Sunday 29 September in Drummartin.

The bicycle was handed over by Dublin Cycling Campaign volunteers Daniel Walsh, Mairéad Forsythe and Siobhán McNamara, and Cycling Without Age Ireland founder Clara Clark. The upcycled bike was funded by Campaign members and purchased from Frontline Bikes, a social enterprise bike shop and training centre. Frontline Bikes provides people with a background of addiction, long-term unemployment, or a criminal record with a pathway to recovery and employment, through their training programme in bike mechanics, using donated bikes.

Our volunteers were glad to meet the new Cathaoirleach to thank him for all the infrastructure that has been developed in the county in recent years to make active mobility more accessible to more people. We chose the junction of Drummartin Road and Eden Park Road to hand over the bicycle because a modal filter has recently been installed there to make walking, wheeling and cycling safer and more convenient and also to reduce traffic volumes on residential roads.

The official bicycle provides the Cathaoirleach with a sustainable mode of transport that is efficient, healthy and emissions-free. As we face up to the climate crisis the bicycle is a visible manifestation of a new era where officials in authority lead by example in efforts to tackle climate change. The step-through bicycle can be used by both men and women and will be used by both the Cathaoirleach and his colleagues in County Hall.

Cathaoirleach O’Leary said: ‘I want to thank the Dublin Cycling Campaign for their very generous gift of a bike which can be used by any Officials or Councillors travelling from County Hall. If more of us are willing to use a bicycle rather than our car, say for journeys of less than 1km, it will have a noticeable positive impact on local traffic congestion.’

Daniel Walsh from DLR Cycling said: ‘We’re delighted to present the Cathaoirleach with this bicycle. As well as being good for physical and mental health, cycling is a cheap, efficient and reliable way of getting around and is an important part of the battle against climate change. We appreciate the leadership of councillors like Cathaoirleach O’Leary who are happy to travel by bicycle, and the work being done by Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council to make cycling safer and more attractive for people of all ages and abilities.’

Cllr O’Leary also had the opportunity to go for a spin on a Cycling Without Age trishaw, piloted by Clara Clark. The trishaws are all piloted by volunteers and give people with mobility impairments the chance to experience the joy of cycling. As Blackrock was home to the first trishaw in Ireland in 2017, it was fitting to give the current DLR Cathaoirleach the chance to try out an experience that has brought joy to many people in the county, passengers and pilots alike.

Photographs by Siobhán McNamara.