Dingle transport survey with a chance to win an electric bike or solar energy system
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In his column on this page, Dan MacCarthy, a most knowledgeable person about our islands, recently described a walk on the storied Great Blasket as a "truly transcendent experience".
During the holiday period, many people are savouring this special island, off the Dingle Peninsula. Having done so a number of times, I can heartily recommend it.
It is, nevertheless, only a small part of the myriad outdoor delights of the south-west, which can be enjoyed year-round. Among many exquisite walks are personal favourites such as the Sheep’s Head Peninsula and Gougane Barra, both in West Cork, and the Old Kenmare Road, in Killarney National Park, to mention a few.
But back to the Dingle Peninsula where there are aims to develop safe routes for walkers and cyclists, initially connecting Dingle town and Ventry, home of the late Kerry football hero, Páidí Ó Sé, whose statue outside the eponymous pub provides a backdrop for countless photographs.
As a tourist hotspot, the Dingle area can be a traffic nightmare and any moves to get people off the main routes and using alternatives to the car, or bus, are to be welcomed.
Given the narrow, twisting roads, cycle lanes are not always practical, so the idea is to try to use shared, or quiet, roads, instead. Hopefully, locals may come up with a template that can be followed by similar areas countrywide.
This latest effort is part of the Department of Transport’s National Sustainable Mobility Pathfinder Project. The purpose is to give people more travel options so they don’t have to use their cars as much.
The Dingle Peninsula Energy Master Plan, undertaken by Dingle Sustainable Energy Community in 2018, identified transport as the single biggest energy user on the whole peninsula, accounting for 54% of all energy usage.
The peninsula has been designated a decarbonisation zone. Already, there’s been a successful rollout of local link buses that were used more than 45,000 times last year. People now have a chance of winning an electric bike, or a 2kw solar energy system, by simply taking part in a survey.
Road safety and lower emissions are priorities. Project leader Deirdre de Bhailís, of Dingle Hub, says community involvement is crucial and this is why she is asking everyone to participate in the survey: “This project aims to identify and advocate for easy, affordable, and integrated travel options that suit everyone’s needs in a rural area."
They need to get 1,000 responses to the survey, which is open to anyone over-18, living on the peninsula full-time, or for part of the year, or to visitors to the area. The link is: dinglehub.com/projects/sustainability/transport