Children in North Kildare are being affected by lack of swimming pool
A local representative has claimed that children in one North Kildare region are being affected by the lack of a swimming pool in the area.
The comments were made by Fine Gael Cllr Tim Durkan while he was in attendance at the latest Clane-Maynooth Municipal District meeting, which took place on Friday, June 5 last.
Near the conclusion of this meeting, he motioned for Kildare County Council (KCC) to provide an update on the provision of a swimming pool for Maynooth.
His motion was seconded by Labour Party Cllr Angela Feeney.
In response to Cllr Durkan’s motion, KCC pointed out via the report it presented at the meeting: “As communicated previously, negotiations on this matter are a matter between Maynooth University and St Patrick’s Pontifical College, Maynooth.
“KCC is not a party to these negotiations and therefore cannot comment on them. “
“However, KCC looks forward to their successful conclusion, and is hopeful that this will result in the return of a publicly accessible amenity for this district.”
KCC further said: “In anticipation of a positive outcome, members will be aware that development contributions have been reserved for future works to bring the facility back into wide community use, subject to future conditions that would have to form an agreement between relevant parties.
“Should negotiation result in agreement to return the facility to appropriate public use within a reasonable timeframe, KCC intends to fully engage with whichever party assumes control of the pool and related facilities, that is willing to jointly pursue this objective.”
KCC concluded: “In that context, should matters be reported as significantly positively advanced and a pathway to conclusion be apparent, KCC is amenable to jointly funding a current condition survey, to establish the scale of costs, and the headline nature and scale of works needed to return the facility to safe public use and to meaningfully plan for this purpose.”
Speaking further on his motion, Cllr Durkan expressed his belief that young children in the region ‘are missing out on a vital life skill’ due to the lack of a swimming pool.
“This should be delivered as a matter of urgency,” he added. “I understand that KCC is doing everything in its power [to address the situation], but the door needs to be pushed.”
Following his comments, a representative of KCC, who was also present at the meeting, assured Cllr Durkan: “KCC has not taken its eye off the project — far from it.”
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