A motion proposing the establishment of a Cycling & Walking Officer post in FCC was discussed at the April 4th meeting of FCC’s SPC. Proposing the motion, Community Representative Ray Ryan, referred to the ambitious national cycling goal to increase cycle commuting from the current modal share of 2% to 10%. High quality cycling commuter routes from Fingal to the city centre were needed. A dramatic recreational/tourism project, a coastal Greenway, had recently been put forward in Fingal’s Tourism Plan. Cycling Officers were in place in all other Dublin county councils except Fingal.

During the discussion on the Motion, Gilbert Power, for FCC, pointed out that Dublin City Council’s cycling budget was an order of magnitude higher than that available to FCC and hence their situation was not comparable to FCC’s. However, he proposed that FCC enter into discussions with the Cycling Officers of South Dublin and DunLaoghaire Rathdown, to explore whether the appointment of a Cycling & Walking Officer in Fingal would make sense. This was agreed by the SPC and a commitment was given to report back to the SPC on those discussions.

The above photo is of the R127 Balbriggan-Skerries road, facing South with Skerries in the background. This is a stretch where the Skerries Cycling Initiative is campaigning for a segregated cycle track. This inter-urban stretch has an 80kph speed limit between Balbriggan and Barnageeragh.