Irish Minister from Department of Finance and MEP candidate, Brian Hayes, with ECF President, Manfred Neun

Irish Minister and MEP candidate Brian Hayes signed ECF manifesto for the upcoming European Parliament elections during the Annual General Meeting of cycling delegates in Dublin. 

"Cycling is hugely important ahead of the European Parliament elections. I am signing this pledge today as a commitment of support for cycling in Ireland and in the EU", said Mr. Hayes in a room packed with some of the best cycling brains from Europe and the world. 

"Every year the EU saves more than 200 billion euro thanks to cycling. This amount exceeds the entire GDP of Ireland. We need EU to invest 6 billion euro in cycling as the return on investment is simply remarkable", said ECF President Manfred Neun. 

The signing took place in the opening of the ECF annual meeting of delegates, which is the biggest gathering of cycling advocates in Europe. Cyclist.ie, the Irish Cycling Advocacy Network, hosted the European Cyclists’ Federation’s Annual General Meeting in Dublin ( 24 – 27 April 2014). Over seventy European cycling campaigners from twenty different countries were part of the biggest cycling advocacy event in Europe, representing 50 million everyday cyclists! 

The event came after the publication of figures showing that commuter cycling in Dublin increased by 14% last year and has almost doubled in the past 10 years.

“We were delighted to welcome these cycling advocates and experts to Dublin. It is a further opportunity to build on the lessons from European countries that have an established and thriving everyday cycling culture. We aim to highlight what a great place Dublin and Ireland is for cycling and send them back to their respective countries with a clear message: Ireland is Open for Cycling!” said Dr. Mike McKillen, Spokesperson for Cyclist.ie and Dublin Cycling Campaign.