The S2S e-mail has had copies of lots of messages welcoming the announcement by the Taoiseach and the Minister for the Environment , Heritage and Local Government, of Government support for the S2S project, including this message to the Taoiseach and the Minister from Eric Conroy, Hon. Treasurer, An Taisce (and ardent cyclist!):
“I am very pleased that the government has agreed to support the cycling route around Dublin Bay. It is a very exciting venture and should be a great environmentally-friendly amenity for the people of Dublin and beyond. Well done,”
The text of many of the messages of support for the project can be checked at the support page.

Following the announcement of Government support for the S2S Project in late 2006, the then Minister for the Environment, Dick Roche TD. formed a working group with representatives of the Department of the Environment, Dublin City and Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council, the Dublin Docklands Development Authority and the Dublin Transportation Office. Acting through Dublin City Council and DunLaoghaire Rathdown County Council, the working group arranged for more detailed studies to be undertaken of the Project. For more details follow this link.

On the 22nd November 2008, Tom Leahy, Executive Manager (Engineering) Dublin City Council, made a presentation of the latest plans for the S2S project to a meeting of the Dublin Bay Task Force. The presentation gives a first glimpse of the ideas for the S2S North section based on the proposals prepared by Roughan and O’Donovan, Engineers. It contains some very exciting ideas which would provide a world class promenade and cycleway while at the same time protecting the sensitive environment. The full presentation can be seen at the following link: http://www.dra.ie/documents/T_Leahy_Sutton2Sandycove22Nov.pdf

Please note that this document is approximately 3Mb and may take a few minutes to download. It is worth it!

The Minister for Transport, Noel Dempsey, T.D., accompanied by the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Mr Eamon Ryan, T.D. today launched “Smarter Travel – A Sustainable Transport Future”. This is Government’s action plan to free our towns and cities from choking traffic congestion, slash CO2 emissions and help car based commuters to leave their cars at home.

Smarter Travel – A Sustainable Transport Future sets out measures so that by 2020 we can have thousands more people walking, cycling, using public transport and leaving their cars at home. With this action plan Government aims to change the transport mix in Ireland so that by 2020 car share of total commutes drop from the current 65% to 45%. This will involve new ways of approaching many aspects of policy making in Ireland. It affects how we plan our schools and school curricula, influences where we develop residential areas and centres of employment in the future, opens up social and employment opportunities for people who experience reduced mobility and returns urban spaces to people rather than cars. the Government’s commitment to the S2S project is reconfirmed in Action 15:

“Recently the Government has announced a benefit-in-kind tax incentive to encourage cycle commuting as well as investment in cycle route maintenance and the proposed Sutton to Sandycove cycle route. The Government have also carried out research on best practice for cycling and has published a strategy for developing cycle tourism.”
The full text of “Smarter Travel” can be found at the following link www.transport.ie/upload/general/Smarter_Travel_5_feb_2009.pdf

Minister for Transport, Noel Dempsey, T.D. and Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Mr Eamon Ryan, TD.

On Wednesday 4th February 2009, Dublin City Council officials presented their plans for the S2S route to a meeting of the City Councillors. Follow this link to see a report of the proposals that was published in the Irish Times of 13th February 2009.

The Minister for Transport, Noel Dempsey, T.D. has done it again and given a further significant boost to the project in his announcement of the new national cycle policy framework. The full policy can be accessed here: http://www.transport.ie/upload/general/11387-0.pdf

The relevant section states:
2.10 Sutton to Sandycove Scheme –
We will complete the Sutton to Sandycove (S2S) cycleway /promenade. This 22km continuous facility will act as a commuting route as well as a world class recreational and tourist route. It will be a flagship project for the capital.

Dublin City Council have applied to An Bord Pleanala for approval for an Environmental Impact Study for a vital section of the project at Dollymount. The section, which is less than 2 kms long, will joint two existing sections of promenade and cycleway between the Wooden bridge and the Causeway at the Bull Island Estuary.
Full details of the study can be found on the DCC website at http://www.dublincity.ie/WaterWasteEnvironment/Pages/WaterWasteandEnvironment.aspx. Members of the public can submit observations on the proposal to An Bord Pleanala within six weeks of the 29th June 09. It is to be hoped that those who support the project will take the opportunity to do so by writing to An Bord Pleanala.

Architect David Wright has put forward an imaginative scheme to form a more direct north south link from the Seafront at Clontarf to the Eastwall Road. The idea is to construct a pedestrian/cycle bridge across the inner estuary from Clontarf seafront to Easpoint. This would reduce the distance from the seafront to The East Link Bridge by 1.6 Km. It is probably the shortest possible route between the north and south city and has the advantage of maintaining more of the overall route along the seafront.

A map and more details of the proposal can be found on David Wright’s website http://www.davidwright.ie/s2s.html

About three years ago, another feasibility study (one had already been completed by the Dublin Regional Authority) was commissioned jointly by Dublin City Council and Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Co Council with the support of the Department of Environment.
The study and report was completed by Scott Wilson, Engineers early in 2010 but has not been published. No reasons were given. Following a motion put down by Councillors Barry Ward and Stephen Fitzpatrick at DLRCC’s Council meeting in February, some light has now been cast on the matter. A web-cast of the council meeting can be found at the following link.Council Meeting

(The web-cast is nearly 3 hours long so fast-forward to 02-06-30, which is the start of the relevant debate) It is difficult not to be frustrated that a project with such widespread support continues to be blocked!

In his inaugural address following his election on Monday 27th June 2011, the new Dublin City Mayor Councillor Andrew Montague said “The Sutton to Sandycove cycling route along our seafront, often called the S2S route, has been launched and re-launched many times. I will assemble a team and agree a plan to fill in the few remaining gaps on this route, to finish the job once and for all.”
This the best news we have had for a long time and it is most welcome after many recent disappointments. We are calling on all those who support the project to let everyone know through Facebook and also by mailing messages of encouragement to the office of the Lord Mayor at his web site

The full press release and text of the Lord Mayors inaugural address can be seen here