Sir, – I refer to the article “A Grave Matter: The Cycle Path Debate”, Weekend, October 29th. The title referenced “a debate”. We – writing on behalf of the Deansgrange Respect our Grief group – feel the article lacked any counter arguments to make it a debate, which we now set out.
Firstly, as mourners of many deceased in Deansgrange Cemetery we are not anti-cycling and absolutely value the safety of our children when cycling and commuting to school. Many of us have school-aged children and regularly use current cycling infrastructure.
However this ill-conceived cycle route through the graveyard is not appropriate for many reasons. Siting the cycle route in a location that is fit for purpose (ie wide enough and dedicated for cyclists) would be most beneficial for all concerned and this cannot be achieved in the cemetery.
Your article states the route is not a dedicated cycle track however it would openly encourage cyclists from the Deansgrange Road into the cemetery, on to paths that are no wider than 6ft in places, and where two cargo bikes (with schoolchildren aboard) could not pass each other, let alone contend with pedestrians in the same area.
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An interviewee in the article states “mourning and grave-visiting are important, but it’s dismaying if they matter more than the lives of children. There will be more grieving families if we don’t have safe cycling infrastructure”. Such comments are totally unnecessary.
This is not a debate about grieving relatives versus the safety of children. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact a number of the families quoted in your article, have buried their own children in tragic circumstances and they have no desire to impart the immeasurable grief and pain they have experienced on anybody else, and that is why they want the right solution to be found for this cycle route.
As mourners in the cemetery we also want to retain respect, tranquillity and dignity for our loved ones, and feel that routing a cycle track here, would lose that. The article referenced the lowering of the Deansgrange wall, to chest height. This is inaccurate. According to the plans submitted by Dún Laoghaire County Council, the wall will be lowered to 900mm (waist height for an average adult). This would certainly affect the tranquillity and dignity of the cemetery.
A recent candlelit vigil held in the cemetery and attended by over 400 people, and a petition signed by nearly 4,000 people, support our view that the proposals of locating a cycle route within the cemetery and lowering the boundary wall, are not appropriate.
Seven other options were considered by the council, and we feel this current proposal should not proceed. Nothing short of locating the cycle track outside the cemetery and the boundary wall remaining untouched are acceptable. The council needs to disregard the current poorly conceived proposal and concentrate on one that achieves a fair result in everyone’s interests, not just cyclists. – Yours, etc,
DENIS O’CONNOR,
TARA COSGROVE,
PHILIP LENANE,
SUSAN MCGARVEY,
Deansgrange, Co Dublin.