The Active Travel Sub Committee of the Malahide Community Forum was set up in 2020 with a goal of improving walking & cycling facilities in Malahide, with a particular focus on the provision of “Safe Routes to Schools”. By improving the infrastructure to make it safe, residents of Malahide will be able to travel to local schools, parks, clubs and shops in a safe & healthy way.

The current walking and cycling infrastructure in the Malahide area is poor, which has led to many school children being driven to school, which in turn has led to gridlock at school drop-off and collection time.  

We believe that this should change as:

• There is a substantial latent demand to cycle to school (In a recent NTA survey of 10,000 Irish school children,  only 507 cycled to school regularly, while if it were safe, 7,143 would cycle to school – see bar chart below)
• Evidence shows that when routes are made safe, people cycle & walk 

• A reduction in car use is good for people, society & the planet

• There is a €1 net benefit for individuals and society for each kilometre cycled rather than driven (€170m per annum)
• 20% of Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions come from transport – cycling saved 28,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions which is the equivalent of 400,000 people flying from Dublin to London

Making cycling & walking safer for kids to get to school will increase these benefits 

While 24% of adults cycle once a week, a further 21% would cycle if facilities improved

Fingal County Council has set up a new Environment, Climate Action & Action Travel Department. We believe that by advocating for better facilities for Malahide & using our local knowledge we can improve the quality of life for our community.

Over the coming months we will be seeking the support of the community in our aim of achieving safe routes to school and if you have a particular interest in this area, why not get in touch with the community forum at the email below.

 secretary.malahideforum@gmail.com