Plans for bike shelter at Leinster House appear halted

Plans for a new bike shelter at Leinster House appear to have hit the rocks after public fury over spending of €336,000 on a bicycle shelter.

The Oireachtas had asked the Office for Public Works for a new facility where staff and politicians could carry out basic repairs on their bicycles.

In July, officials at Leinster House also asked for more bike spaces for the complex saying that demand for existing stands was very high.

The email was sent before costs of the new covered bike shelter had emerged publicly and caused months of controversy.

The message said: "Could you consider a proposal to install a bike maintenance station at the location where the Constance Markievicz statue is currently located, please?

"The type of station we are contemplating is shown below [a similar facility at UCD] – merely as an example which demonstrates the principle."

The email said the Oireachtas Commission had decided no further covered shelters should be provided but that extra bike parking was still needed.

The message added: "We do need more bike stands, as an inspection on a recent Monday (non‐sitting day) revealed that every single bike parking space in Kildare Street was in use.

"Could we discuss the question of more bike racks in Kildare Street (perhaps near Block C when the block C scaffold comes down, but location can be guided by your advice) and a bike station, please?"

The self-fix bicycle stations the Oireachtas were looking for have been installed in a variety of locations with three of them fitted at UCD several years ago.

Each of the kiosks has a pump to reinflate tyres and is equipped with other tools for carrying out basic repairs and upkeep.

However, there has been no progress on the project since the request amid a storm over the cost of multiple costly OPW projects.

Asked about the proposal, a spokeswoman said: "The Office of Public Works (OPW) confirms that it has received requests for the provision of additional cycling infrastructure at Leinster House.

"These requests will be dealt with in the normal way. To date, no action has been taken in respect of either request."

The Oireachtas said their "request remains with [the] OPW" when asked whether they wanted the projects to go ahead.

Separately, documents show that the covered bike shelter was first looked for in October 2020 by a cross-party group of TDs and Senators.

A letter to the Ceann Comhairle said: "The lack of any sheltered bike parking facility has meant real inconvenience and annoyance during the recent wet weather for all of us who cycle into Leinster House regularly."

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In discussions from April 2021, the location near the National Gallery was thought the best choice after gardaí ruled out an alternative location "because of security concerns."

The project was given the go-ahead early that summer, but was hit by delays during the COVID-19 pandemic with the Leinster House cycling group saying members were growing "increasingly frustrated" over how long it was taking.

An internal email in November 2021 said: "The draft planning is nearly ready to go - needs to be reviewed before being submitted - delayed due to other H&S [health and safety] works arising - will endeavour to get submitted in next few weeks."

In February 2022, the Leinster House cycling group wrote for a third time to the Ceann Comhairle asking for an update.

"I would be glad if you could bring our concerns at the long delay and lack of any progress on this to the attention of the members at the next Commission meeting," said an email from Labour leader Ivana Bacik.