Green Party Councillor Janet Horner has called on Gardai to crack down on stolen bikes after witnessing a theft in the city centre.
Cllr Horner was coming home from a meeting on Monday night when she saw a bike theft take place on the busy Westmoreland Street. She was struck by the boldness of the act, particularly as people were standing at a nearby bus stop.
She took a photo of the theft, which does not identify the person responsible, in order to condemn the behaviour and call for added surveillance. An avid cyclist, Cllr Horner believes that the rate of bike theft in Dublin is discouraging many from taking on the mode of transport.
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She told Dublin Live: "Very often when someone stops cycling, it’s because of bike theft. If you put money into one and care for it and it gets stolen, particularly if it happens more than once, people don’t want to spend any more money on them. There’s very little accountability."
The theft of electric bikes is a particular concern, as cyclists easily shell out a few thousand euro on their purchase. However, Cllr Horner believes the theft of cheap bikes is equally as worrying, as these can sometimes be a person's only mode of transport.
While underground bike parking is available in city centre locations such as Drury Street and Jervis Street, the Green Party councillor believes more surveillance is needed at these locations. There have been several reported bike thefts at these spots, despite the presumed safety that underground parking offers.
The photo of the Westmoreland Street theft does not identify the offender. However, Cllr Horner used the opportunity to highlight the blatant theft and later passed on the photo to Gardai.
She added: "People feel comfortable doing it in full view of others- you can see in the background that people are waiting and getting on buses. Westmoreland St is a busy street and there’s no hesitation or concern about being stopped or caught- People just keep their heads down and ignore it."
There were 3,800 bike thefts recorded by An Garda Siochana in 2022. Gardai are often unable to recover the majority of stolen bikes to their original owners, as their serial numbers are not recorded.
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