We need to 'shout louder' for a new pool and sports centre

Westmeath politicians need to “shout louder” to secure the funding needed for the long hoped for new regional sports centre in Robinstown, according to a local councillor.

Speaking at the monthly meeting of Mullingar Kinnegad Municipal District, Cllr Emily Wallace said that while Mullingar’s councillors have set aside some €2m in funding from their annual budgets over the last decade, including €390,000 in the 2022 budget, “nothing has happened”.

“Why have we not been allocated money? What have we done wrong in our applications? Have we been missing points? Why have we been overlooked? It doesn’t make sense.

“It’s not good enough. Are we not shouting enough? Are we not getting our TDs to shout loud enough? What do we need to do to get bricks on the ground?” she asked.

Cllr Aoife Davitt said that, at present, Mullingar parents are queueing for hours to sign their children up for swimming lessons or travelling to other towns in the midlands so that their sons and daughters can learn an “important life skill”.

She also noted that the plans for the sports centre drawn up in 2008, when the project was initially mooted, will have to be revised.

“We have to move with the times and meet the needs of Mullingar today, not just have a copy and paste job of the old plans,” she said.

Cllr Ken Glynn and Cllr Hazel Smyth both praised Lisa Corcoran, a local parent who started an online petition to gauge people’s desire for a new sports centre, and along with others, is behind an ongoing campaign to get a sports centre delivered for Mullingar.

The Fianna Fáil councillor said he had a “strong commitment” from Minister for Sport Jack Chambers when he discussed the issue on a video call during the pandemic.

He also asked that the local authority write to Minister Chambers in a bid to get him to "follow through" on his commitment.

Director of Services David Jones said that in 2019 the council applied for funding for the sports centre under the Large Scale Sports Infrastructure scheme but it was unsuccessful. It subsequently appealed the decision and is awaiting a decision.

He also agreed with Cllr Davitt that the plans need to be revisited and said that a new internal "concept group" would be established to look at them.