Why Ireland's public swimming pools need a lifeline
Image: DPA/PA Images Image: DPA/PA Images CLOSED FACILITIES, LIMITED hours and a lack of investment – some of the complaints people have about swimming pools in Ireland.
Swimming is widely recognised as a sport that appeals to all ages and abilities – it’s one of the characteristics of the sport praised by the government in the National Sports Strategy.In Dublin, some council-run pools, such as Coolock and Sean McDermott Street, only open to the public for brief windows every week, while Markievicz Leisure Centre could face demolition under plans for the new MetroLink.
Funding from the scheme has also dropped significantly, from €27.8m in 2007 to only €4.2m in 2019 – scarcely enough to build a single pool. Even where pools are open, the public often only have a brief window for which to use them – funding limitations too often mean that use is often restricted to schools and lessons.
By 2007, the number of people per public pool was 58,000. In 2011, the target was to lower that to one public pool per 50,000. Related Read 19.05.19 NTA will fund and reinstate new Markievicz Leisure Centre but no council sites available But one problem for Swim Ireland, says Mary McMorrow, is the distance of pools from schools – on one scheme for DEIS schools run by the organisation, 50% of the costs came from transport to and from pools.Plans for a national swim strategy – an unprecedented focus on the sport – could help to drastically improve the sector says Conn McCluskey, the Chief Executive of Ireland Active, an umbrella body for the leisure industry.
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