WORK on a new multi-million euro public swimming pool for south west
Donegal may begin within a couple of years.
It follows confirmation that planning is to be submitted in the coming
days to develop a €3.5 million facility on the site of the Dolmen
Centre between Ardara and Glenties.
The nearest existing public swimming pools are an hour away – in
Letterkenny and Ballyshannon respectively.
Members of the Dolmen Centre met on Thursday night to finalise their
plans before submitting formal plans with Donegal County Council.
Mr Leonard Molloy is chairman of the Dolmen Centre. He said that they
will put together a funding package for the new facility once planning
is secured, a process that may take three or four months.
“It’s almost twenty-five years since we first asked local people to
outline the needs of the area in a survey. They came up with the idea
of a swimming pool which could deliver much needed jobs for the area
while at the same time providing something that might encourage
tourists to stay in the area an extra day or two,” Mr Molloy said.
The plans are for a 25 metre by ten metre pool with a children’s pool
and two-storey slide on the site of the existing Dolmen Centre,
adjacent to a building which is currently home to the local Men’s Shed
group.
“It’s a facility that is badly needed in south west Donegal. As a
community we’ve already spent close on six figures in bringing this
project to planning and I think that’s a big statement of intent on
our part.
“Each summer we have over 250 children taking part in an Irish Water
training programme at Portnoo while we also have a swimming group who
regularly swim from Portnoo pier to Narin beach, a distance of 1.2k.
“The pool would cater for all the local schools and we believe that,
with our eco-friendly background, we’ll be able to heat the pool in a
very cost efficient manner,” he said.
“Once planning is secure we’ll then actively seek funding from
Government and Europe and we see no reason why we can’t have the new
pool in place sooner rather than later,” he added.
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