A street protest by cyclists and public transport campaigners in Dublin city centre this evening appeared to pass good naturedly and with minimal disruption to motorists.
The Dublin Cycling Campaign and the Critical Mass group staged an event on O'Connell Street beginning at 5 p.m. in a move designed to delay car users and to hammer home the message that motorists should give public transport a try.
However, traffic on O'Connell Street and O'Connell Bridge appeared marginally lighter than usual as some motorists clearly chose to avoid potential disruption to their homeward journeys.
There was a significant Garda presence in the city centre, with dozens of uniformed officers, a dog unit, the mounted unit and even a number of gardai on bicycles overseeing the protest. The Garda helicopter also hovered overhead providing an "eye in the sky" for officers on the ground.
One Garda estimated the number of protesters to be in the region of 250 to 300.
|
|
Mark Harris and young Griffin at the protest
|
The protesters had indicated they would stop traffic and stage a "Repaint the Streets" event, painting their own zebra crossings and cycle lanes on the roads. However, there were no paintbrushes immediately in evidence.
Participants assembled at the Millennium Spire, which is located on the central reservation in O'Connell Street, at 5 p.m. and listened to a Dublin "street" rap before taking their bikes to the road at around 5.30 p.m.
There was some consternation among motorists on the southbound carriage of the capital's main street as the cyclists moved off. But there were no angry exchanges of views between those relying on their cars for their commute the those who preferred pedal power.
Gardai kept a low-key presence alongside the protesters as they cycled and walked towards O'Connell Bridge and up D'Olier Street chanting slogans such as "Whose streets? Our streets!" and "Car-free day".
The protesters stopped briefly on the bridge itself but again the delay to rush-hour traffic appeared to be minimal. Within minutes, traffic returned to normal as the protest wended its way south of the Liffey.
Green Party TDs Mr Ciaran Cuffe and Mr Eamon Ryan both took to their bicycles to take part in the protest. The pair, along with their other Green Party colleagues, were setting an example to other TDs this morning as they arrived at Leinster House on their bikes.
Mr Ryan, who has been actively involved in the Dublin Cycling Campaign and in a number of such protests, said the private car versus public transport dilemma was "a chicken and egg situation".
"Until people start getting out of their cars, there's always going to be that traffic and the buses are not going to get through. It's a political issue and the Government have to decide who they give priority to," he said.
He said the protesters were doing what Dublin City Council had failed to do in "restricting the traffic slightly".
"I suppose the day in itself has been a bit of a disappointment. There hasn't been a big reduction in traffic. The only thing the city council is doing is cutting off Dollymount beach to cars, which you could argue should be done anyway.
"So it's just a symbolic day, but unfortunately the symbol from Dublin appears to be that we're not doing very much and we're not willing to do much more."