Plans revealed for new swimming pool for Mayo town
An example of a pop-up pool facility. Pic: Swim Ireland
Plans are progressing for the provision of a pop-up swimming pool in Ballinrobe, subject to a funding commitment from Mayo County Council.
Ballinrobe Sports Hub coordinator Mark Smith told a meeting of the Claremorris-Swinford Municipal District that the pop-up pool would be in place for two to five years and during this time an evaluation process would take place for a permanent pool facility, which is to be called the South Mayo Swim Centre.
Mr Smith said the pop-up pool will be located on the Convent Ground site between St Joseph’s Primary School and Ballinrobe Community School. It will take two weeks for it to be swim-ready and once it is up and running, management, staffing and running costs will be handled by Swim Ireland, which is targeting 700 pool users per week.
The full-heated pool will be 13 and a half metres long and three and a half metres wide and located inside a gazebo structure.
The overall project cost will be around €90,000 with a contribution of €72,000 from the local authority and the remaining €19,800 from the local community.
“It is a project that would bring a lasting legacy,” said Mr Smith.
His colleague Frank Keane said there is a huge demand for this facility in the area.
“A swimming pool was the number one priority following our Community Futures planning,” he said. “School kids bus from Ballinrobe to Claremorris for swimming and the bus costs more than the lessons meaning many can’t afford it.
“A council could tender a house for four people for €400,000 and for a quarter of that, you get a facility like this.”
Fine Gael Cllr Michael Burke, who is based in Ballinrobe, called on his fellow councillors to support the project.
“It is a huge catchment area with about 15,000 to 20,000 living without a 15-minute radius. A pool would send out the right signal and I hope everyone would support this,” he said.
In response to a query from Aontú Cllr Deirdre Lawless, who offered full support for the project, Mr Smith said the funding stream for the permanent pool has not yet been identified but they are hopeful of grants.
“Pool costs in general are coming down and swim infrastructure is now a big priority. Swim Ireland has said they want a 50m pool for Connacht and they have not identified the location yet, but we would hope to potentially pursue that opportunity,” he said.
“We’ll gladly have that in Ballinrobe,” quipped Cllr Burke.
