Action group formed to campaign for new pool
A new action group calling for a new public swimming pool and sports centre in Mullingar wants local community and sporting organisations to get behind the campaign.
The Mullingar Pool Action Group held its first meeting in the Mullingar Park Hotel on Tuesday night last. Among those who attended the meeting were Minister of State Peter Burke and the mayor of Mullingar Kinnegad Municipal District, Cllr Hazel Smyth.
Speaking to the Westmeath Examiner, the chairperson of the group Lisa Corcoran said that the meeting was “very positive”.
“Everyone is very willing to work collaboratively to push the campaign on.
“Our plan is to reach out to local sports clubs, schools and charities [to get their support] and to reach out to some well known Mullingar people who could highlight the campaign.”
Through connecting with local groups and schools, the action group is hoping to get as many signatures as possible to present to Minister of State for Sport, Gaeltacht and Defence Jack Chambers.
Before the pandemic, Westmeath County Council unsuccessfully applied for funding for a new sports centre under the Large Scale Sports Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF). It subsequently appealed the decision and is awaiting a decision.
Over the last decade, councillors have also set aside more than €2m from the annual budget to fund the local authority’s contribution towards the multi-million euro project.
Ms Corcoran says that while the staff at Mullingar Swimming Pool provide a great service, the facility is not fit for purpose any longer. She added that a town of the scale of Mullingar needs a modern swimming pool and sports centre that will meet the changing needs of its residents.
Since she started the campaign last summer with an online petition that attracted more than 1,000 signatures, Ms Corcoran says she has spoken to numerous local people who are unable to access the swimming pool.
“Young people and older people are losing out due to the lack of suitable facilities. I spoke to a pregnant woman with sciatica who can’t access the swimming pool because she can’t use the ladder – she needs steps. Aand it’s a story I am hearing again and again. We need modern facilities.
“When I started the petition I never expected it to go where it has. I started it purely as a mam who wants to give my children the best.
“We live in a town of more than 20,000 people but there are no shallow or baby pool facilities. Since starting this, I have spoken to people with disabilities and parents of children with special needs who can’t access the pool. People who are elderly or who have any sort of physical impairment can’t get in and out of the pool.
“Swimming is a necessary and basic life skill, but our town does not have a public pool that meets our needs.”
Minister of State Peter Burke says that while the staff at Mullingar Swimming Pool do “great work in very challenging circumstances”, the delivery of a new swimming pool for Mullingar is long overdue.
“I am happy to work with and support the committee in the Mullingar Pool Action Group on their campaign. I have been working for a substantial period of time to try to a get a capital allocation from the LSSIF for the new Robinstown complex. Westmeath County Council has done a significant body of work in terms of putting together priming finance to access state funding, which would be a significant capital allocation.
“In essence, Minister Chambers and Minister Catherine Martin have the LSSIF allocated – however Westmeath County Council has appealed the decision on its application.
“The Mullingar Pool Action Group is a hard working, dynamic group looking for the best for Mullingar, a town that is growing rapidly and which needs vital infrastructure like this to support families and to support the elderly and those with disabilities.”