Marianne Gormley (21) was jogging home from work through Broombridge, which crosses the Royal Canal in Cabra, in August, when she had to jump into action to rescue a cyclist who fell into the water.
The cyclist was physically unharmed but shaken by the incident, as was Ms Gormley, who said she has had “nightmares” about it since.
“It was not a pleasant experience; he did nothing wrong. It was the road surface and a mixture of a few things, such as the sharp turn where you can’t see what’s coming in front of you,” she said.
“It left me really, really shaken, and I ended up having nightmares after. I’m not super comfortable in water anymore, which is strange because I’ve always been a strong swimmer.”
Marianne Gormley rescued a cyclist who fell into the canal near Broombridge
She described the area as “lethal” due to the condition of the ground and lack of visibility on approach and said she always exercises caution as she knows how narrow the path is.
Ms Gormley has been campaigning for the surface of the pathway to be improved ever since, and has been in contact with Waterways Ireland and various local councillors, asking for their help.
“You can’t see what’s coming from the other side because the path turns a corner as you go underneath the bridge. Cyclists regularly go through it because gates were installed to stop people from crossing over the bridge,” she said.
“I understand why the gates were installed, but because of them, nobody wants to dismount and wheel their bike over the top of the bridge and down the other side. So, everyone uses the narrow path where you can’t see what’s coming.”
She said that ever since the incident, she has been “so scared” thinking about what could happen to someone else if they got into trouble at the same section and there was nobody there to help.
Green Party councillor Feljin Jose has since contacted Ms Gormley to reassure her that the towpath between locks 7 and 8 of the Royal Canal would be resurfaced later this month.
Green Party councillor Feljin Jose photographed on the banks of the Royal Canal. Pic: Frank McGrath
Responding to the news, she said she was “really happy” because of how worried she was about someone else potentially getting into trouble.
“This is your sign to campaign for things, for changes to be made and to keep applying pressure,” she said.
“That took 3 months, so if you think there’s an issue, keep pushing.”
Cllr Jose said a “larger body of work” is in progress, which involves widening the path, creating full segregation between cyclists and pedestrians, and installing floodlights.
This larger project is the Royal Canal Greenway, a €12m initiative coordinated by Waterways Ireland.
Cllr Jose acknowledged that the pathway is “narrow and broken up” and, because it’s a shared surface between cyclists and pedestrians, there is not “much room” to manoeuvre, which makes it “extremely dangerous”.
“We need this upgrade, and it’s not just about improving the surface. It’s about ensuring safety for everyone who uses the canal,” he said.
“The Royal Canal Greenway project is really ambitious. It’s a multi-million euro effort that would segregate cyclists from pedestrians along the entire route. But it’s taking time, and we need to be patient.
“It’s an environmentally sensitive area. There’s a lot of wildlife, hedges and plants along the canal.
“That’s why the full environmental impact assessment is needed, but it’s definitely holding up progress,” he added.
Waterways Ireland has been contacted for comment.
