CYCLISTS WHO PARKED their bikes along Camden Street in Dublin this morning may be left a little mystified later – gardaí have been removing bikes from the street today due to the presence of the visiting royal couple.

Meghan and Harry have been visiting the Áras, Croke Park and Trinity College today – and went for lunch at Delahunt on Camden Street ahead of their afternoon engagements.

A video from the southside street showing a garda cutting through a lock and removing a bike as other security officials looked on was posted to Twitter this afternoon – prompting some surprise, and a few calls to Joe Duffy’s Liveline.

“If you left your bike locked on Camden Street today and it was gone when you returned to it, please contact @GardaTraffic – whose efficiency knows no bounds when vehicles are causing obstructions,” campaign group Dublin Cycling tweeted, tongue-in-cheek, adding a hashtag #FreeTheCycleLanesDublin.

Gardaí provided this statement:

“While An Garda Siochana does not comment on the details of security measures for VIP events, two bikes were removed from the Camden Street area by Gardaí today 11th July 2018 and taken to Pearse Street Garda Station were they can be collected by the owners.

“The locks on these bikes were also removed by Gardaí and the owners will be fully reimbursed.”

The statement said that the bikes were removed to mitigate “any potential hazard or interruption to the VIPs as they were parked directly on front of a designated entrance”.

“There was an order in place for the area under section 21 of the Criminal Justice/Public Order act. An Garda Siochana apologises for any inconvenience caused in this incident.”