“We could be the Amsterdam of Ireland if we just got our act together,” Mary McMahon from Galway City said on Sunday at an event in support of the Salthill cycleway that is proposed to come into effect for six months from March to September 2022.
The Big Red Community Cycle began at the Maldron Hotel on the Headford Road before heading to Claddagh Hall and finishing in Salthill, as a community demonstration the day before city councillors are presented with a report analysing the more than 7,500 submissions to the public consultation on the matter.
The Department of Transport has confirmed funding of €1 million is available for the project.
The cycleway has sparked debate among citizens in Galway, garnering support nationwide.
Cristina, originally from Italy, but living in Knocknacarra, said she could not see any reason to object to the cycleway.
Feeling safe
“I mean, this is going to be such a good image for Galway, as well as an example for the rest of citizens in Ireland,” she said.
Safety was at the forefront of minds as many expressed how they wanted their children to feel safe while cycling.
“We take more or less the space of a car, and we go slower than the cars, so we have been beeped [at] a lot. It’s really nice for children to know that they are safe on the path so to have a cycle way will give them that opportunity for their confidence,” Celine, a French woman who lives in Spiddal, said.
Ms McMahon described the situation as “a sad state of affairs”.
“Two years into a pandemic and not one yard of cycleway has been created in Galway. I have an 11-year-old daughter and I would not let her cycle around Galway because it is totally unsafe,” she said.
Other views were expressed, however.
JP Walsh, from Galway, contrasted Galway with Dublin and Limerick.
Tourism and cars
“I don’t think there’s enough use, if you walk [the promenade] every day of the week, as I do most days. There’s only one or two cyclists. I can name them nearly. It’s not like Dublin, where it’s constant. Even in Limerick, I don’t see any of this kind of cycling going on in Limerick,” Mr Walsh said.
John Murray said although people were entitled to protest, “You can’t take away them cars, that’s what the bread and butter of Salthill is – tourists.”
“They have to get a cycle lane eventually, though,” Mr Murray said.
James and Lorraine Hall, from Monasterevin, visit Galway four or five times a year, and happened to be walking the promenade in Salthill as the cyclists passed.
“They have everything, every amenity known, but there’s just no cycle lane. And the amount of people out here today is amazing, and it just goes to prove there isn’t a cycle lane. It’s definitely needed,” Ms Hall said.
“The safe cycling, that’s the only thing Galway, Salthill, seems to be missing,” Mr Hall said.