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Clientelism, pork-barrel politics and ‘pulling a stroke’ are important topics in Irish political science, and growing evidence demonstrates that Irish government ministers deliver disproportionate capital investments for their constituencies in grant allocations. Smarter Travel, a new policy area in the sustainability agenda, began providing capital funding for cycling projects in 2012 and offers a study of clientelism in a new field. This article shows that in 2012 and 2014, the Minister with responsibility for commuter and public transport overruled civil servant recommendations to fund four cycling-based projects in his own constituency and in another constituency immediately prior to a Dail by-election. The allocation of €27 million in National Cycle Network and Active Travel Towns funding is examined using Freedom of Information requests and the role of the Minister is highlighted. This study of pork in a new field reveals some of the dynamics between the civil service and a government minist...