Dublin City Council together with Cyclist.ie, and the support of Cycling Ireland are bidding to host the world’s largest cycling conference, Velo-City, in 2019.
At this stage Dublin has been shortlisted along with Helsinki in a two horse race to host this prestigious conference. Next year it will be held in Arnhem-Nijmegen in Holland, when thousands of cycling enthusiasts and advocates will descend on the twin cities to immerse themselves in all things cycling.
Imagine this happening in Dublin in 2019! It may well become a reality, as Dublin City Council and Fáilte Ireland have got behind the bid and are actively working to bring it here. As part of the bid process, a Bid Assessment Team from the European Cyclists’ Federation will arrive in Dublin next week (23rd November) to run the rule over Dublin’s bid, and will be viewing Dublin’s cycling infrastructure, examining the bid in detail, as well as meeting officials and politicians from the Minister of Transport Shane Ross downwards.
The fact that we in Dublin have been accepted into the second stage of the bid process is in itself a tribute to the team who worked on it, and the cycling plans for Dublin City. Dublin will know by the end of the year if we are successful in our head to head with Helsinki! Fingers crossed that we make it over the line and bring thousands of overseas cycling enthusiasts to Dublin in 2019!