A video showing a steady stream of cyclists using a recently opened bike lane in Dublin has sparked a bizarre debate on social media, where some users have speculated that the clip was “staged” and that the cyclists featured in it are actors, paid by the local authority to promote the protected infrastructure.

The 40-second clip, which was initially posted on Dublin City Council’s Facebook page earlier this week, shows several clusters of cyclists riding at rush hour in North Strand, a residential area in the north of the Irish capital, on the protected Clontarf to City Centre cycle lane.

Opened in November last year after a series of delays, the bike lane is Dublin’s first continuous cycle route from the city centre to the suburbs, covering 2.7km and offering what the National Transport Authority described as “revolutionary” safe, segregated cycle facilities into “a very busy part of the city centre”.

This week’s video of the bike lane in action, which was captioned by the council “a busy morning along the Clontarf to City Centre Route!”, has since been deleted by Dublin City Council, but was reposted on YouTube by IrishCycle.com, who first reported the conspiracy theories surrounding the clip.

These conspiracy theories, spread by Facebook users purporting to live close to the cycle route, seem to centre on the conception that the bike lane is rarely used, and that the council’s video was a “staged” attempt to make it appear popular.

“Where exactly was that filmed, and at what time, please?” asked apparent local Garrett OD in the comments under the video.

“Also, can you confirm that no volunteers, paid actors, or other parties with a vested interest in promoting the cycle lane featured in this video?”

This theory seemed to catch on in the comments, with another user writing: “Someone shouted action.”

“Correct. These cyclists were held back,” another replied. “Notice there’s no cyclists ahead of the pack when it starts recording. Some of them are only getting going. One lady looks like she’s about to fall off.”

“Interesting there’s not one cyclist in front of the woman in orange at the start. How ‘lucky’ was the person on the camera to catch such action,” added another commenter.

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“Are they the same actors used for the cycle traffic lights a few weeks ago?” a user claiming to be a Dublin-based driving instructor wrote, in reference to a recent short clip featuring a lone cyclist stopping at new traffic lights on the route.

“Looks staged, like a gathering of Green Party employees from Dublin City Council,” said one user, prompting other commenters to explain to him that cyclists can get caught up at junctions too, just like motorists.

“That’s obviously why the slowest cyclist was in front, so…” he sarcastically replied, before being given a quick social media lesson on how overtaking works.

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Unsurprisingly, many locals were baffled by the conspiracy theories proliferating in the wake of the council’s short video of the cycle lane.

“DCC hired 23 actors? That’s a novel theory,” a member of the public wrote in response to one doubter, who was also told to “get a grip”.

“If I were to debunk a conspiracy theory, I’d have a look at the vehicular traffic and work out it was morning rush hour, but because cyclists get into town in a consistent time period, my theory would say that this was taken around 8.40am.

“Which happens to be when it is very busy on the cycle path. I’d also theorise that you weren’t on one of the bikes.”

“Are you actually local or do you have blinkers on?” another user asked. “It’s like that every morning, take the tinfoil hat off, the only thing wrong is the private vehicles in the bus lane.”

One Dublin resident responded to the conspiracy theories by posting his own video on YouTube from another section of the route, highlighting the number of cyclists using the infrastructure.

“According to comments I’ve seen on social media over the last couple of days, the people who you see cycling here on these routes are, and I kid you not, paid actors,” Citizen Wolf said.

“Also note the horrendous noise generated by cars and vans and motorbikes. Cities aren’t noisy, it’s cars that are noisy. Cars do so much more harm than just physical danger.”

A few other cyclists emphasised the route’s popularity, noting that the volume of cyclists in the clip posted by the council is now the norm, especially during commuting hours.

“I’ve been on a health buzz recently and as the weather is nice I cycle that way to work. Usually a similar amount of cyclists to what is in the video,” one said, before noting the problems still associated with the infrastructure.

“Some weird signalling sequence along the route that is hard to figure out and difficult enough to overtake slower riders as the lane is narrow and there are still conflict points where cars block the lane or turn across you suddenly, which is particularly bad when the cycle lane spits you out at Connolly Station.”

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As we reported last month, these teething problems for the relatively new cycle lane were exacerbated by the council’s decision to close part of the route in Clontarf and tell cyclists to dismount and push their bikes – prompting another backlash aimed at the local authority, this time from the city’s cycling population.

'Cyclists please dismount' sign, Dublin
'Cyclists please dismount' sign, Dublin (Image Credit: @donna_cooney1 on Twitter/X)

No official detour was offered after the route was closed without advance notice – with one local councillor noting that the works were not supposed to take place until June – and the signs were positioned after cyclists cross the road to access the path.

“This is ridiculous, where is the traffic management plan? Cycling is a legitimate form of transport,” Deputy Lord Mayor Donna Cooney said at the time, describing the situation just after 5pm as “chaos”, as pedestrians and dismounted cyclists were funnelled into a narrow stretch of pavement between the barriers.