Public swimming pool needed in County Waterford
Deputy Conor McGuinness has repeatedly raised the swimming pool issue.
Sinn Féin TD for Waterford, Deputy Conor D. McGuinness, has said the ball is firmly in Waterford City & County Council’s court to advance plans for a public swimming pool in Dungarvan.
He said he wrote to every elected member of Waterford City & County Council calling on them to support the inclusion of funding for the initial development stages of the project as the Council prepares its next Capital Plan.
“Over the past two years, I’ve consistently worked to keep this project on the political agenda [and] I’ve raised it repeatedly in the Dáil, submitted Parliamentary Questions to both the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport and the Minister of State with responsibility for Sport, and engaged directly with Government on future funding opportunities for a public swimming pool in Dungarvan," said Deputy McGuinness.
Saying the responses were broadly positive, he said ministers had reaffirmed their commitment to continued investment through the Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund, which has already allocated more than €41 million towards swimming pool and aquatic infrastructure projects.
However, he said they also confirmed that no application has ever been made for a public swimming pool in Dungarvan. He said that means the focus must now turn to Waterford City and County Council.
“The Council’s own feasibility study found there is sufficient demand for a public swimming pool, while the proposal has received political backing both at Dungarvan/Lismore District level and through a motion adopted by the full Council in 2024," he said.
"Dungarvan remains an outlier among towns of its size in Ireland by not having a public swimming pool," he added.
He went on to comment: “Councillor Kate O’Mahony and I have worked closely together in advocating for this project because we both recognise the enormous benefit it would bring to Dungarvan and the wider West Waterford area."
"This has always been a community campaign that reaches well beyond party politics," he said, adding that with the Council’s Capital Plan now under consideration, the time had come to begin preparing the project.
“Major infrastructure projects don’t begin when a funding scheme opens," he said.
"They begin years beforehand through planning, design and project development," he added.
"If Dungarvan is to be ready when the next round of the Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund opens, that preparatory work needs to begin now."
He said that was why he had written to every councillor asking them to advocate for the inclusion of funding for the early development stages of the project in the Council’s Capital Plan.
"This isn’t about committing to the full construction cost today," he said.
"It’s about ensuring the Council has a well-developed proposal that is ready to compete for national funding when the opportunity arises.”
He went on to comment: “Ultimately, the Council executive will have to lead this project, but elected members have an important role in setting a clear expectation that it should now move from aspiration to preparation."
