NEWTON'S OPTIC:THE ROW over contraflow cycle lanes in Dublin illustrates everything that is most disturbing and even despicable about the Irish character, writes
NEWTON EMERSON
The fact that there is a row over the issue at all is bad enough. Allowing cyclists to use both directions on one-way streets will spare them significant time and effort without inconveniencing other road users one iota. Indeed, if contraflows encourage more cycling it will mean less congestion for everyone at the cost of little more than a few licks of paint.
The only reason to object to this commonsense proposal is the sullen, spiteful fear that others might not be suffering as much as you are, however petty and needless that suffering might be.
Begrudgery is hardly news in Ireland, of course. But the specific objections raised by Fine Gael councillors Edie Wynne and Gerry Breen reveal far darker currents of suspicion, tribalism and prejudice lurking in the Irish psyche.
Both councillors observe that only 3 per cent of Dublin’s commuters cycle to work, in the apparent belief that this is an argument against showing cyclists the slightest consideration.
“Ninety-seven per cent are choosing another way,” Wynne said. Three times as many people “choose to walk,” Breen added, without adding much else of note.
These statements do not just dismiss a minority purely for being a minority. They also reek of contempt for their “choice” not to join the majority.
Cyclists only want equal journey times with other commuters. Are they to be denied equality just because they are different? There are no allowances in Fine Gael’s Dublin for the special needs of cycling commuters, let alone for the possibility of non-cyclists converting to two wheels.
There is no recognition that most people are simply born near a bus stop and do not “choose” their mode of transport in the first place.
The casual intolerance of other travelling cultures on display here is chilling, as a pertinent comparison makes clear.
At the last census, 3 per cent of the Republic’s population “chose” to be Church of Ireland. Ninety-seven per cent chose another way, including one-third as many who chose to be Muslims.
Should they also be expected to go in the same direction as everyone else, just because that is the direction everyone else is going?
Is the mere thought of others taking a different path too terrible to bear?
Is there no room in Fine Gael’s Ireland to give anyone a two-way street?
It is surely no coincidence that cycling and Church of Ireland membership have both declined sharply since Independence. In this context, objections to the contraflow plan can be seen in a very real sense as quite literally racist.
Sadly, this instinctive hatred of minorities is not just a problem within Fine Gael, although it certainly is a problem within Fine Gael, make no mistake about it.
Councillors across the political spectrum have forced Dublin’s cycling community to share lanes with buses and taxis, suggesting a cynical ambivalence towards their very survival. Even the recent bridge-building exercise in the quays has left cyclists fearing for their lives. Little wonder that many are now demanding their own separate routes.
Before this starts another cycle of Ireland’s tragic history, councillors Wynne and Breen should urgently reconsider their position.