This year, for the 2024 local election, we have put a tougher line of questions to the candidates to gain a clearer understanding of how they might support projects in the coming years.
As a result of the tougher questioning, we’ve seen a significant reduction in the response rate.
The candidates below have taken the time to respond and offer clarifications on how they will support cycling issues. Please show them your support in the upcoming local elections
Limerick City West
Joe Leddin
Labour Party
- Are you in favour of ensuring higher quality cycle facilities adhering to the Cycle Design Manual? YES
- Will you advocate for mandatory bike parking at new developments and higher bike parking standards at various public locations? YES
- Do you believe that building safe cycling infrastructure can help reduce traffic congestion? YES
- Will you advocate for stronger enforcement of illegal car parking and dangerous driving? YES
- Do you endorse the roll-out of school streets and the Safe Routes to School Programme even if it involves a reduction in car parking spaces and limiting vehicular access? YES
- Will you support the removal of on-street parking to build the LSMATS cycle network? YES
- Do you believe walking and cycling-only connections between estates cause antisocial behaviour issues and should be avoided? NO
- Do you support the extension of the current city centre 30km zone to include the suburbs and their schools? YES
- Do you believe that building safe cycling infrastructure can help boost local business? YES
- Do you support the closing some neighbourhood streets to vehicular through traffic as an option to improve safety and accessibility for pedestrians and cyclists and local residents? YES
- Do you support connecting our 3 main higher-level institutions through the city with safe segregated cycling infrastructure? YES
- If you would like to elaborate further, please use the space below to provide additional comments. – Consultation and meaningful engagement with residents and businesses will help address many of the practical challenges faced when proposed new routes are identified in the city
Peter Spencer
Green Party
- Are you in favour of ensuring higher quality cycle facilities adhering to the Cycle Design Manual? YES
- Will you advocate for mandatory bike parking at new developments and higher bike parking standards at various public locations? YES
- Do you believe that building safe cycling infrastructure can help reduce traffic congestion? YES
- Will you advocate for stronger enforcement of illegal car parking and dangerous driving? YES
- Do you endorse the roll-out of school streets and the Safe Routes to School Programme even if it involves a reduction in car parking spaces and limiting vehicular access? YES
- Will you support the removal of on-street parking to build the LSMATS cycle network? YES
- Do you believe walking and cycling-only connections between estates cause antisocial behaviour issues and should be avoided? NO
- Do you support the extension of the current city centre 30km zone to include the suburbs and their schools? YES
- Do you believe that building safe cycling infrastructure can help boost local business? YES
- Do you support the closing some neighbourhood streets to vehicular through traffic as an option to improve safety and accessibility for pedestrians and cyclists and local residents? YES
- Do you support connecting our 3 main higher-level institutions through the city with safe segregated cycling infrastructure? YES
- If you would like to elaborate further, please use the space below to provide additional comments. –
Daniel Butle
Fine Gael
- Are you in favour of ensuring higher quality cycle facilities adhering to the Cycle Design Manual? YES
- Will you advocate for mandatory bike parking at new developments and higher bike parking standards at various public locations? YES
- Do you believe that building safe cycling infrastructure can help reduce traffic congestion? YES
- Will you advocate for stronger enforcement of illegal car parking and dangerous driving? YES
- Do you endorse the roll-out of school streets and the Safe Routes to School Programme even if it involves a reduction in car parking spaces and limiting vehicular access? YES
- Will you support the removal of on-street parking to build the LSMATS cycle network? YES
- Do you believe walking and cycling-only connections between estates cause antisocial behaviour issues and should be avoided? NO
- Do you support the extension of the current city centre 30km zone to include the suburbs and their schools? YES
- Do you believe that building safe cycling infrastructure can help boost local business? YES
- Do you support the closing some neighbourhood streets to vehicular through traffic as an option to improve safety and accessibility for pedestrians and cyclists and local residents? YES
- Do you support connecting our 3 main higher-level institutions through the city with safe segregated cycling infrastructure? YES
- If you would like to elaborate further, please use the space below to provide additional comments. –
Michael Rafferty
Fine Gael
- Are you in favour of ensuring higher quality cycle facilities adhering to the Cycle Design Manual? YES
- Will you advocate for mandatory bike parking at new developments and higher bike parking standards at various public locations? YES
- Do you believe that building safe cycling infrastructure can help reduce traffic congestion? YES
- Will you advocate for stronger enforcement of illegal car parking and dangerous driving? YES
- Do you endorse the roll-out of school streets and the Safe Routes to School Programme even if it involves a reduction in car parking spaces and limiting vehicular access? YES
- Will you support the removal of on-street parking to build the LSMATS cycle network? YES
- Do you believe walking and cycling-only connections between estates cause antisocial behaviour issues and should be avoided? NO
- Do you support the extension of the current city centre 30km zone to include the suburbs and their schools? YES
- Do you believe that building safe cycling infrastructure can help boost local business? YES
- Do you support the closing some neighbourhood streets to vehicular through traffic as an option to improve safety and accessibility for pedestrians and cyclists and local residents? YES
- Do you support connecting our 3 main higher-level institutions through the city with safe segregated cycling infrastructure? YES
- If you would like to elaborate further, please use the space below to provide additional comments. – There needs to be a systemic overhaul of transport in Limerick, achievable through Dr Laura Keyes’ mayoral programme which invests in public and active transport as an alternative to car use, as well as better inter-city and suburban rail links.
Maria Donoghue
Independent
- Are you in favour of ensuring higher quality cycle facilities adhering to the Cycle Design Manual? YES
- Will you advocate for mandatory bike parking at new developments and higher bike parking standards at various public locations? YES
- Do you believe that building safe cycling infrastructure can help reduce traffic congestion? NO
- Will you advocate for stronger enforcement of illegal car parking and dangerous driving? YES
- Do you endorse the roll-out of school streets and the Safe Routes to School Programme even if it involves a reduction in car parking spaces and limiting vehicular access? YES
- Will you support the removal of on-street parking to build the LSMATS cycle network? NO
- Do you believe walking and cycling-only connections between estates cause antisocial behaviour issues and should be avoided? NO
- Do you support the extension of the current city centre 30km zone to include the suburbs and their schools? YES
- Do you believe that building safe cycling infrastructure can help boost local business? NO
- Do you support the closing some neighbourhood streets to vehicular through traffic as an option to improve safety and accessibility for pedestrians and cyclists and local residents? YES
- Do you support connecting our 3 main higher-level institutions through the city with safe segregated cycling infrastructure? YES
- If you would like to elaborate further, please use the space below to provide additional comments. -I found it difficult to respond to the survey without a specific context to refer to, so I hope my statement below gives you clarity around my holistic approach to safer walking and cycling in Limerick. I have answered No to certain questions in the survey because I do not think they are Yes or No situations.I am very supportive of walking and cycling, and it should be endorsed. If elected, I will push hard for the elimination of through-traffic in all residential areas across the city, including the suburbs.This would significantly reduce the volume of traffic clogging up our streets and roads, making walking and cycling much safer for all citizens without the need for segregation.The push for segregation is dividing communities, and I am uncomfortable supporting segregation without a parallel increase in reliable, cheap/free public transport and widening of a Park/Ride Network to the greater hinterlands- the issue of safety for walkers and cyclists is more fundamental than segregation; we must encourage and incentivise people to use their cars less, thereby reducing the problem in residential areas which is through-traffic.If elected, as part of my commitment, I will also push for the development of a Street and Road Hierarchy Strategy for the city (similar to that used in Holland), which will clearly set out Roads and Streets categories and their particular design principles and features.
This is a community- and people-centred approach that I really want to see implemented – it would alleviate the arguments that are arising from segregating infrastructure in contested spaces while achieving the fundamental objective which is greater safety for walkers and cyclists.For example, utilising this approach, Wolfe Tone Street where I live, would be designated an Access Road. This would offer direct access to residential areas by means of much decreased speed limits (30km/h zones), and home zones (15km/h).
By following this flexible and adaptive approach that responds appropriately to varying contexts, only local communities could continue to use the street; local car traffic only would be permissible to enter, and this would greatly increase safety for walkers and cyclists as well as the quality of the public realm. I have a video on my website in which I discuss this issue, if you’d like to share it. https://www.mariadonoghue.ie/videos/v/roads-streets
Limerick City North
Tom Collopy
Sinn Féin
- Are you in favour of ensuring higher quality cycle facilities adhering to the Cycle Design Manual? YES
- Will you advocate for mandatory bike parking at new developments and higher bike parking standards at various public locations? YES
- Do you believe that building safe cycling infrastructure can help reduce traffic congestion? YES
- Will you advocate for stronger enforcement of illegal car parking and dangerous driving? YES
- Do you endorse the roll-out of school streets and the Safe Routes to School Programme even if it involves a reduction in car parking spaces and limiting vehicular access? YES
- Will you support the removal of on-street parking to build the LSMATS cycle network? YES
- Do you believe walking and cycling-only connections between estates cause antisocial behaviour issues and should be avoided? NO
- Do you support the extension of the current city centre 30km zone to include the suburbs and their schools? YES
- Do you believe that building safe cycling infrastructure can help boost local business? YES
- Do you support the closing some neighbourhood streets to vehicular through traffic as an option to improve safety and accessibility for pedestrians and cyclists and local residents? YES
- Do you support connecting our 3 main higher-level institutions through the city with safe segregated cycling infrastructure? YES
- If you would like to elaborate further, please use the space below to provide additional comments. –
Ruairí Fahy
People Before Profit
- Are you in favour of ensuring higher quality cycle facilities adhering to the Cycle Design Manual? YES
- Will you advocate for mandatory bike parking at new developments and higher bike parking standards at various public locations? YES
- Do you believe that building safe cycling infrastructure can help reduce traffic congestion? YES
- Will you advocate for stronger enforcement of illegal car parking and dangerous driving? YES
- Do you endorse the roll-out of school streets and the Safe Routes to School Programme even if it involves a reduction in car parking spaces and limiting vehicular access? YES
- Will you support the removal of on-street parking to build the LSMATS cycle network? YES
- Do you believe walking and cycling-only connections between estates cause antisocial behaviour issues and should be avoided? NO
- Do you support the extension of the current city centre 30km zone to include the suburbs and their schools? YES
- Do you believe that building safe cycling infrastructure can help boost local business? YES
- Do you support the closing some neighbourhood streets to vehicular through traffic as an option to improve safety and accessibility for pedestrians and cyclists and local residents? YES
- Do you support connecting our 3 main higher-level institutions through the city with safe segregated cycling infrastructure? YES
- If you would like to elaborate further, please use the space below to provide additional comments. -I think we need to reexamine existing junctions on cycle lanes to improve their safety for all road users and see if there’s an educational campaign that can be developed to help people get used to the new designs in the Cycle Manual. For the enforcement of illegal parking I think we need to start with better designation of what is and isn’t a parking space, especially in residential areas using yellow painted lines and white boxes.There’s a cultural problem of people parking on footpaths and small designation changes like that have resulted in positive behavioural changes in other areas. If we’re closing some streets off to vehicular access in residential areas we need to look at options for vehicular access for people who need to use a car for mobility reasons or work as well as ambulances with retractable bollards. 30kph zones should be mandated in all council managed estates with appropriate signage and crossings/speed bumps to further reduce speed.Schools should also require lower speed limits and road layout changes to encourage those lower speeds. I’m not sure if all roads in the suburbs should be reduced to 30kph (mostly those linking motorways/main roads to industrial estates) especially if it’s just changing the signs without any other changes to road layouts and providing alternatives as it will be unlikely to lead to much of a change on its own.
Sarah Beasley
Aontú
- Are you in favour of ensuring higher quality cycle facilities adhering to the Cycle Design Manual? YES
- Will you advocate for mandatory bike parking at new developments and higher bike parking standards at various public locations? YES
- Do you believe that building safe cycling infrastructure can help reduce traffic congestion? YES
- Will you advocate for stronger enforcement of illegal car parking and dangerous driving? YES
- Do you endorse the roll-out of school streets and the Safe Routes to School Programme even if it involves a reduction in car parking spaces and limiting vehicular access? YES
- Will you support the removal of on-street parking to build the LSMATS cycle network? No
- Do you believe walking and cycling-only connections between estates cause antisocial behaviour issues and should be avoided? NO
- Do you support the extension of the current city centre 30km zone to include the suburbs and their schools? YES
- Do you believe that building safe cycling infrastructure can help boost local business? YES
- Do you support the closing some neighbourhood streets to vehicular through traffic as an option to improve safety and accessibility for pedestrians and cyclists and local residents? No
- Do you support connecting our 3 main higher-level institutions through the city with safe segregated cycling infrastructure? YES
- If you would like to elaborate further, please use the space below to provide additional comments. -Let me be clear – Holland will fit into Ireland at least twice and has approximately 4 times the population. Their cycling infrastructure is what is needed if it is to succeed in a place like Limerick. We have some of the loveliest places to get to if we had the ability of such amenities. It is healthier, quicker, cleaner and it improves family time. Let’s not forget that if done correctly, it is safer too. Many people I have spoken to at the door will not cycle purely because of the way people drive and disrespect cyclists.The infrastructure currently in Limerick is nowhere near adequate. Side-cycle lanes with a small barrier on the main street is just asking for trouble. If we are going to do it, it needs to be done properly and further, education to motorists too. There should be stoplights for cyclists as per the Dutch model; better sign posting, clear signage as to whose right of way it is at junctions.Take the Rhebogue Road junction by Colorworx – this is an accident waiting to happen and is already on my plan to rectify and make safer for cyclists. To summarise – Until a proper plan is in place we can’t just throw money around sticking lanes in here there and everywhere expecting it to work. We need to properly structure the lanes and routes. Make them continuous and far reaching.They need to be safe, separated and clearly defined and understood. The law of the roads need to change to also uphold the new infrastructure too. Below are my elaborations where required: Question: Will you support the removal of on-street parking to build the LSMATS cycle network? SB: I would support it providing there were still disabled parking and ‘some’ on-street parking available. If you are asking for a blanket removal, then I could not support this. Question: Do you believe walking and cycling-only connections between estates cause antisocial behaviour issues and should be avoided? SB: I answered ‘No’, however, this is provided that it is managed correctly. Question: Do you support the closing some neighbourhood streets to vehicular through traffic as an option to improve safety and accessibility for pedestrians and cyclists and local residents? SB: This would need to be discussed with the local residents in said areas.
Saša Novak Uí Chonchúir
Green Party
- Are you in favour of ensuring higher quality cycle facilities adhering to the Cycle Design Manual? YES
- Will you advocate for mandatory bike parking at new developments and higher bike parking standards at various public locations? YES
- Do you believe that building safe cycling infrastructure can help reduce traffic congestion? YES
- Will you advocate for stronger enforcement of illegal car parking and dangerous driving? YES
- Do you endorse the roll-out of school streets and the Safe Routes to School Programme even if it involves a reduction in car parking spaces and limiting vehicular access? YES
- Will you support the removal of on-street parking to build the LSMATS cycle network? YES
- Do you believe walking and cycling-only connections between estates cause antisocial behaviour issues and should be avoided? NO
- Do you support the extension of the current city centre 30km zone to include the suburbs and their schools? YES
- Do you believe that building safe cycling infrastructure can help boost local business? YES
- Do you support the closing some neighbourhood streets to vehicular through traffic as an option to improve safety and accessibility for pedestrians and cyclists and local residents? YES
- Do you support connecting our 3 main higher-level institutions through the city with safe segregated cycling infrastructure? YES
- If you would like to elaborate further, please use the space below to provide additional comments. – Keep doing the good work!
Limerick City East
Michael Murphy
Fine Gael
- Are you in favour of ensuring higher quality cycle facilities adhering to the Cycle Design Manual? YES
- Will you advocate for mandatory bike parking at new developments and higher bike parking standards at various public locations? YES
- Do you believe that building safe cycling infrastructure can help reduce traffic congestion? YES
- Will you advocate for stronger enforcement of illegal car parking and dangerous driving? YES
- Do you endorse the roll-out of school streets and the Safe Routes to School Programme even if it involves a reduction in car parking spaces and limiting vehicular access? YES
- Will you support the removal of on-street parking to build the LSMATS cycle network? YES
- Do you believe walking and cycling-only connections between estates cause antisocial behaviour issues and should be avoided? NO
- Do you support the extension of the current city centre 30km zone to include the suburbs and their schools? NO
- Do you believe that building safe cycling infrastructure can help boost local business? YES
- Do you support the closing some neighbourhood streets to vehicular through traffic as an option to improve safety and accessibility for pedestrians and cyclists and local residents? NO
- Do you support connecting our 3 main higher-level institutions through the city with safe segregated cycling infrastructure? YES
- If you would like to elaborate further, please use the space below to provide additional comments. –
If you are a candidate and have not received the survey via email please send us an email at [email protected]
