Shane Coleman has said it was “wrongheaded” for a judge to describe cyclists in Dublin as a “nightmare” in court.
In a case in the Circuit Civil Court, Judge James O’Donohoe reduced damages awarded to a cyclist by 80%, having decided he was to blame for the collision.
“You never know with cyclists what they are going to do or anticipate what they are going to do,” Judge O’Donohoe told the court.
“Cyclists have become a nightmare in Dublin.”
A cyclist and a driver in an argument. Picture by: Monika Wisniewska/Alamy.On Newstalk Breakfast, presenter Shane Coleman said the judge was perfectly entitled to take into account his own experience as a driver. However, he took issue with the language he used to describe cyclists.
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“His comment that cyclists have become a ‘nightmare’ in Dublin; I think that is going way too far. I think that is dismissive of cyclists,” Shane said.
“Ciarán Cannon, president of Cycling Ireland, said it was disparaging towards cyclists and it is impossible to disagree with that.
“Let's deal with the facts here, folks, instead of emotive comments; 190 people died on our roads last year, 185 of them on public roads.
“How many of those accidents were caused by cyclists? I would say zero, probably. But we do know 14 cyclists died on Irish roads in 2025.”
A cyclist uses the bike shed at Leinster House. Image: PA Images / Alamy Stock Photo.Shane added that he was aware that some cyclists do not follow all the rules of the roads - much like motorists.
“They break lights, they cycle on footpaths, they don't wear proper reflective gear at night, which they should do,” he said.
“But let's be really honest here. A lot of motorists behave really badly as well.
“And the impact of that is far more devastating than if a cyclist behaved badly… I think our judiciary needs to do a lot better than it did yesterday.”
Overall, Shane said he felt the judge’s remarks were “wrongheaded”.
Main image: A split of Shane Coleman and a cyclist. Pictures by: Newstalk and RollingNews.
