David Timoney of the Dublin Cycling Campaign had his bike stolen while meeting Dublin City Council on bike thefts.
A man leading a campaign to highlight the problem of bike thefts in Dublin has had his own bike stolen while meeting Dublin City Council officials.
David Timoney was a leading member of the Dublin Cycling Campaign which has carried out an extensive survey on bike thefts.
But when he cycled to a meeting with council officials he got a somewhat ironic kick in the teeth.
"We found that 10 per cent of people didn't lock their bikes at all and a further 45 per cent used cable locks,” he told RTE Radio 1’s Morning Ireland programme today.
“Now I know from my own painful experience, cable locks aren't adequate in Dublin.
"I mean this time last year I had a €800 mountain bike taken in Temple Bar.
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“I was using a cable lock. I was actually in a meeting with somebody from the city council on the subject of bike theft at time.
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The new research on bike thefts will be unveiled at a meeting next Monday evening; 8pm, Central Hotel, Exchequer Street, Dublin 2.
"It's a lesson I haven't forgotten so the single thing people can do is buy good locks”.
The full results of the survey will not be unveiled until next Monday, though Timoney disclosed some of the findings during his radio interview.
Hotspot areas for bike thefts around Dublin include: Trinity College, George's Street, the south end of Grafton Street, Parnell Street and Rathmines Rd.
But almost as many bikes were taken from people’s homes and from car parks as stolen off the streets.
Some one in six people who had their bikes stolen did not return to cycling again and 26 per cent reduced their cycling trips as a result.
Timoney also said a very significant number of people who had their bikes stolen were never reunited with them, with many not reporting the theft to the gardai.
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