Michael Aherne, Clearing Dublin's streets for Wednesday's city cycle
There was a very special moment during last year's organised cycle in Dublin that Michael Aherne is hoping to relive next week. It was when a gentle silence fell on one of the noisiest, most traffic-choked streets in the city. "If you can imagine Capel Street with hundreds of cyclists on it and the only sound was the hum of the tyres on the road, people chatting and the occasional bicycle bell. Dublin is usually such a noisy city, that's part of the joy of this event." Senior transportation planner with the Dublin Transport Office, Michael, and his 10-year-old son, Michael, will have their bikes oiled and ready for this year's Dublin City Cycle on Wednesday.
Last year the event was the first time the city-centre streets were cleared for a brief, golden hour of cycling, as part of Velo-City, an international conference hosted here.
As the director of the 2005 event, Aherne drew on his experience in "my last major movie. Sorry," he laughs, "my only major movie," when he played the bespectacled piano player Steven Clifford in Alan Parker's The Commitments.
His role as a band member still gives him the "odd chance to get up on stage and do something entirely different", but the movie days are behind him. Married, with six children aged between nine months and 10 years, he is a card-carrying cycling enthusiast. He frequently cycles the 12 miles from his home in Bray to work, taking 40 minutes, faster than most cars. He is hoping that people who have not been on a bike in years might be tempted out by this year's cycle.
"You'll be able to cycle round and talk and see the city from a completely different perspective." Will it not make us all wish it could be like that more often? "Well, that's part of it. These things make people think and raise questions about how much traffic do we want or need in Dublin and whether you move the balance back towards the person? With people who haven't been on bike in years you've got to get them on a saddle and remind them how good it is to cycle and how short the distances are in the city centre." Catherine Cleary
•The cycle goes from Mayor Street in the IFSC on a 10km circuit passing the Custom House, O'Connell Street and Merrion Square. Register free at www.dublincitycycle.ie or turn up on Wednesday, from 7pm.