Councillors push for public swimming pool and sports hub for Swords

Fingal County Council said on 31 March that its plans to build a new public swimming pool in Balbriggan have progressed to the preliminary design and planning stages.

Now, councillors are wondering where else needs a pool?

Construction of the six-lane 25-metre pool in Balbriggan is slated to commence in late 2026, according to Fingal Chief Executive AnnMarie Farrelly’s monthly report.

But until then, Fingal is still without a single public indoor swimming pool, and independent Councillor Darren Jack Kelly wanted to know if Swords could be considered for one next.

At the April monthly meeting of the full council on Monday evening, Kelly said he welcomed the news in Balbriggan.

“But I just want to know if it is in Fingal County Council’s plans to look at or even think about  – we all mentioned before in here – having a pool in Swords?” he asked.

There wasn’t anything in the current capital plan to deliver a pool in Swords, Farrelly said.

But, the council is due to present its sports audit “shortly”, she said, “and that will mean we’ll need to prioritising future projects coming out of that”.

It isn’t just a pool that Swords needs though, Fine Gael Councillor Luke Corkery had said at the Balbriggan/Rush-Lusk/Swords Area Committee on 10 April.

The council should also look into potential sites for a sports and recreational hub in the area, Corkery said.

He introduced a motion proposing this at the area committee meeting, saying Swords Rugby Club is without a permanent home, while Fingallians GAA Club will have to surrender parts of their Balheary Park playing pitches for the development of the Metrolink.

Kevin Halpenny, the council’s senior parks and landscape officer, said the Ward River Regional Park Development Plan – which is being drafted – will include an expanded sports and recreational hub at Swords Manor.

A significant sports and recreational hub is also in the pipeline at the planned Swords Regional Park/Broadmeadow River Regional Park, Halpenny said. “The first phase of this has been provided and further phases will be developed through the  Development Management process.”

The detailed planning for these extra facilities will take account of the sports audit, which was completed recently, he said.

But, in light of the government’s approval of the Revised National Framework Plan on 8 April, was there some scope for sporting facilities to be developed alongside housing, similar to the hub proposed for Ballymastone, in Donabate? Corkery asked.

He welcomed the plans already progressing in and around the Swords, he said.

But “I hope the upcoming sports audit demonstrates that we need to get the finger out when it comes to the delivery of sports facilities, but also a swimming pool, and I would favour a municipal pool forming part of a future sports hub development,” he said.

At the area committee meeting, Halpenny said the council acknowledges that it must respond to the needs of clubs in the county. “We will be bringing forward the plans for the Ward River Valley in the coming months.”

The plan for that park in Swords has a significant number of facilities for sports and recreation, he said.

But he said, the council looks forward to presenting the sports audit to councillors soon, and responding to these needs.