Primary schoolteacher Ciarán Mulqueen, based in Dublin 8, invested in a cargo bicycle three years ago after noticing many parents used them for the school drop-off.
Mulqueen, who also runs a popular Instagram page focused on the Irish housing crisis, now uses the bike daily to take his two young children to creche before travelling to work, perhaps to the supermarket later on and occasionally to visit his mother north of the city.
The cargo bike has evolved from being used for deliveries by butchers, farmers and postal workers in Europe in the late 19th century to a popular mode of commute and to complete the school run in style. Often electric, a cargo bike facilitates carriage of a heavy load (often a couple of children) with designated carry space on the front or back.
Jumping on this bandwagon was a “no-brainer” for Mulqueen. His wife Melissa uses the family car to get to work, and they did not want to buy a second car.
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His version is electric and requires charging every 10 days or so. “It only costs a few cent, maybe 20 or 30,” he says. “It costs nothing to run. I can’t fault it.”
To purchase the bike, he and his wife used the Cycle to Work scheme through their employers. The Government initiative, launched in 2009, enables tax-free bike purchases, with participating employers paying the upfront cost and employees reimbursing this via salary deductions.
The scheme imposes a €3,000 maximum spend on cargo and e-cargo bikes.
Official figures could not be obtained on the number of cargo bikes purchased through the scheme, as there is no legislative requirement for employers to report details to Revenue when they provide a bicycle and/or safety equipment to employees.
Since Mulqueen bought one, two other parents and a fellow teacher at his school have followed suit.
Cycling the bike is “no effort”, even when it is loaded with shopping bags and his two children, due to pedal assistance that increases when needed.
He is hyperaware of bad drivers while cycling, especially when his children are with him on the bike.
“Some drivers have bad habits: not checking mirrors and no indicators. You have to assume they will do the worst thing and pre-empt it.”
He likes having a bigger bike “as cars can’t get too close”, he says, adding he would like to see more cargo bikes and more cycle lanes in the city centre.
It was the practicality of the vehicles that enticed Shane Farrell, from Santry, Dublin, who had seen many people using them around the city.
He loves the convenience of the cargo bike. He can leave his son at Montessori and travel to work in the city centre within 35 minutes. The same journey would take him “at least an hour” if he were using public transport.
Before he got the bike, he commuted to work by car and spent up to €70 on parking each week. He said getting a cargo bike has negated the need for a second family car.
He enjoys avoiding car parking cost, unreliable public transport and battling multiple modes of transport to make his journey.
His particular style of bike has the cargo carrier at the front covered by a rainproof layer.
“My son loves laughing at me while I’m getting wet if we’re cycling in the rain,” he says.
The five-day return-to-office mandate for his financial sector job was the “driving force” behind getting the cargo bike. On his commute to work, he has found that some sections of road are safer than others.
“Drivers probably spend more time looking at their phones than the road, but I’ve had no close calls,” he says. He has noticed more of his colleagues and friends have started using cargo bikes, which is positive, as he feels a reduction in car use is “better for everyone”.
His office has created cargo bike parking spaces, while the Cycle to Work scheme is a “huge help”. However, he believes the Government should increase the €3,000 maximum spend for cargo bikes, as, although the vehicles have a high upfront cost, he says maintenance spending is low, and the result would be to “take cars off roads”.
Kevin Lacey, from Dublin, is the managing director and founder of Kuma Bikes, which has three stores across Dublin and Cork.
He also designs bicycles, and part of his business is manufacturing bikes that are sold in his stores and to wholesalers. Last summer, he partnered with an Italian company to create a lighter cargo bike. The idea came to him after he noticed how heavy the bikes could be.
Families are “90 per cent” of his customer base, he says, and he estimates his three shops have sold almost 300 cargo bikes in the last 18 months.
The owner of 2 Wheels bike shop in Sandymount, South Dublin, expects cargo bike sales to grow “substantially”. He began to stock them 18 months ago and has since sold about 40 of them.
He first used one of the contraptions two years ago when he hired one on holiday France. With two children, Deegan, from Rathmines, could see their “merit”.
For Rob Cummins, managing director at Wheelworx, sales of cargo bikes at shops in Lucan, Finglas and Naas, are in the “low double digits”. He has been selling the bikes for more than two years, but he anticipates the market could grow substantially in 2026.
He believes a big part of the growth of cargo bikes is that more “people are exposed to them” due to their rising popularity in Dublin.
“At first, they look big and weird, but in most big European cities, they are a normal piece of life used all the time. People are seeing themselves in them now,” he says.
“The next generation will see cargo bikes as the normal way of getting around. In 10 or 15 years, cargo bikes will explode,” he says. The low cost will draw people in, he predicts. “It is so much cheaper than an electric car.”
