Memorial tribute to cyclist is 'NI's first ghost bike'

A memorial for a cyclist who was killed in a road accident in Belfast last year is believed to be the first of its kind in Northern Ireland.

A white bicycle has been chained to a railing on Ormeau Bridge, at the place where father-of-four Michael Caufield died in a crash on 15 April 2011.

It is known as a ghost bike, a tribute to cyclists killed on the street.

Mr Caulfield's widow Bernie said she had no idea who had placed the memorial but she wanted to meet and thank them.

There were no witnesses to the collision and an inquest into the 56-year-old's death is yet to take place.

Bernie Caulfield told BBC Radio Ulster that it had been a very difficult year and until the memorial appeared she had been unable to visit the site where her husband lost his life in the collision.

Mrs Caulfield said she felt "nervous" when she first heard about the ghost bike, and was unsure whether or not it was a real tribute.

She explained that a police liasion officer had telephoned her to check if she felt offended by the ghost bike, and if so, had offered to take it away.

However, she was reassured when a family friend took photographs of the Ormeau Bridge memorial and emailed them to her.

"It said on it, 'rest in peace Michael Caulfield, 15 April, aged 56'," she told the Evening Extra programme.

She was then taken to see the memorial in person by the police liasion officer.

She said the memorial had not taken her pain away but "helped a bit".

Asked if she wanted to meet the person who had erected the memorial, Mrs Caulfield said: "Yes I would, I would like to say thank you.

"I would like to know who it was, because I have looked online at the website, and it seems it have started in New York somewhere".

Ghost bikes are a phenomenon that began in the United States, but it is believed that the tribute to Mr Caulfield is the first ghost bike in Northern Ireland.