About Us/Fúinn

Mission Statement/Ráisteas Misin

  • Our mission is to make Galway cycling-friendly.

Objectives

  • get more people cycling and make it an everyday form of transport
  • make the roads safer for everyone
  • improve services and infrastructure for people who cycle, walk and use public transport
  • educate the public and decision makers

Our constitution

Our vision

Who we are

Our vision for Galway is a place where people can travel easily, safely and enjoyably by bicycle.

We are:

  • The voice of cycling in Galway since 1998.
  • People who use bicycles as an everyday form of transport – for work, school, college, shopping, socialising, leisure, and recreation.
  • An independent, membership-driven organisation made up of dedicated volunteers.
  • Advocates for all road users, including pedestrians, families, people with disabilities and public transport users.
  • Experts in international best practice. Our greatest asset is our members’ knowledge and expertise, built up over decades.

Committee Members (as of February 2023)

  • Chairperson: Reg Turner
  • Treasurer: Alan Curran, Fiona Concannon
  • Secretary: Neil O’Leary
  • Other committee members: Neasa Bheilbigh, John Brennan, Martina Callanan, Roselyn Carroll, Justine Delaney, Kevin Jennings, James O’Connell, Pat O’Loan, Caroline Rowan.

How to volunteer

What we do

  • Help people to start cycling and stay cycling.
  • Advocate for safer roads and better facilities in Galway for cyclists and pedestrians of all skill levels, ages and backgrounds.
  • Constantly monitor issues affecting sustainable travel in Galway
  • Consider the implications for cycling in new developments/strategies and make submissions to relevant local and national authorities.
  • Share our expertise with decision makers and the public.
  • Meet up for regular socials.
  • Give interviews to the media.
  • Represent sustainable travel on various committees.
  • Produce educational material for road users on how to share the roads and how to deal with common traffic situations safely and confidently.

Policies

Transport policy should be based on the Hierarchy of Road Users, which prescribes the following order of priority:

  • People who walk
  • People on bicycles
  • Public transport users
  • Private motor vehicles

We endorse the European Charter of Pedestrian Rights (1998) which calls for towns and cities to be designed to give pedestrians the highest priority. We focus on the best transport outcomes for the most people for the most efficient use of resources, by promoting the well-established Hierarchy of Measures:

  • Reducing traffic speeds.
  • Changing the mix of traffic, for example by diverting HGVs.&
  • Junction treatment and traffic management.
  • Rethinking road layout to improve access for public transport and cyclists.
  • High-quality segregated space, e.g. wider hard shoulders, cycle lanes and cycle paths.

We endorse the Road Danger Reduction Charter. We support the work of the European Cyclists’ Federation. In decades past, the number of people who cycled in Galway City was considerably higher than it is now. We want to restore cycling numbers to what they were and normalise cycling as a form of transport. Galway Cycling Campaign was established in 1998 following a large public meeting, born of a great need for people who cycle to have a unifying representative voice. Our first chairperson was Brendan Geoghegan.

Campaigns/Feachtais

We support:

  • more bicycle parking for Galway
  • a more useful Galway Bike Share Scheme
  • a car-free Galway city centre
  • cycle skills training for adults and children
  • well-designed greenways – with local consensus
  • a cycle link connecting Ballybrit and Parkmore business parks
  • commuter cycle links to key workplaces, including University of Galway, UHG and the city centre