‘MORE VISIBILITY NEEDED ON STREETS TO HELP KEEP BICYCLE LANES CLEAR’
IN ONE of the tribunal’s more surprising passages, Mr Justice Peter Charleton issued an appeal for gardaí to be more visible on our streets and to ensure bicycle lanes are kept clear.
He wrote: ‘In contrast to other major cities, such as Rome and London and Athens, where police are visible at intersections, at junctions and in public plazas and squares, the extraordinary aspect of our police force is that they keep themselves isolated in police stations and then transport themselves around in squad cars.
‘It is extraordinarily rare that gardaí are seen in uniform on the streets. In undertaking hundreds of journeys between the Four Courts and Dublin Castle during the currency of the tribunal, on only one occasion was there a policeman to stop a taxi or car breaking through a pedestrian light. The effect of police challenge was immediate and salutary.
‘People behave well, generally, in the presence of uniformed officers of the law. Other examples include the extent to which cycle lanes, there to protect those cycling for economic, health and environmental motives, who are extraordinarily vulnerable, are simply ignored. Cars block cycle lanes, intrude on them and endanger cyclists. Ireland, while not having any immediate terrorist threat, but with a serious organised crime problem, has a real problem due to the invisibility of our police force... Everyone serving in the police should give a portion of the day to foot and bicycle patrols.’