If I was living in Holland, there’s no doubt I’d have a souped-up adult size tricycle and tear through the amazing network of cycle lanes that criss-cross the European City of Common Sense but hey, this is Ireland! I’m a pedestrian and the tricycle is just a dream.

Where they do exist, cycle lanes are a hotch-potch of unconnected routes that are unceremoniously bolted on to the edges of roads and end without warning.

Yes, cycling in Ireland is not a particularly pleasant experience.

Here now follows the ‘but’ bit.

I am beginning to have a visceral hatred of a certain section of cyclists in Dublin. Hatred and fear. Fear for both me and them.

Let’s start with the fear. I travel into the city on a coach. Part of the journey takes us up the quays from the O2. There’s even one of those rare, well designed cycle lanes that go nowhere. It ends just before the Beckett Bridge and a major intersection with traffic lights.

Red. Orange. Green. We all know the sequence.

At least that is what I thought.

In the past few weeks, I’ve seen cyclists ride the wrong way, break traffic lights, break pedestrian lights and genuinely make a mockery of the rules of the road.

That is bad enough but there is a level of selfishness involved here. I sit in the front seat just behind the driver. I see how close these cyclists come to going under the wheel. Who would be blamed? The driver. Who would have to live with the image of the bicycle going under the wheel? The driver and any of the passengers who saw anything.

Do cyclists think about this or do they think the legitimate grievances give them the right to act in such a cavalier manner?  If you want your rights, show some responsibility.