JULY 2019 - NO LONGER VALID - AWAITING UPDATED TIMETABLE
Breathing a New Lease of Life into North East Inner City
Dublin City Council, Swim Ireland and NEIC partner up with investment and resources to extend opening hours in Sean MacDermott Street swimming pool
10th August 2018: Dublin City Council (DCC) with the support of the North East Inner City Initiative (NEIC) has teamed up with Swim Ireland to extend the opening hours at Sean MacDermott Street Swimming Pool. This is part of the NEIC’s remit to make Dublin’s North East Inner City area a safe, attractive and vibrant living and working environment for the community and its families.
To mark this significant investment, an open day for the community and local businesses will take place on Friday August 10th. Dublin City Councillor Gary Gannon, Dublin Footballer Michael Darragh Macauley, Glasgow 2018 European Bronze Medalist Shane Ryan and local International Boxer Kellie Harrington will all be in attendance. The event begins at 11am with family friendly activities such as music, prizes, face painting and ice cream located in the adjacent car park. In the pool itself, there is an open swim for anyone who would like to get involved, along with a number of classes on offer for people to sample throughout the day such as family inflatable session and kids swimming lessons.
Speaking about the extended opening hours of the pool, the Lord Mayor of Dublin Nial Ring said “This exciting new partnership between Dublin City Council and Swim Ireland demonstrates Dublin City Sport & Wellbeing Partnership’s commitment to a more strategic approach to the delivery of sport and recreational activity across the city.
We are committed to strengthening co-operation and learning between key stakeholders to maximise use of the City Council’s existing facilities. We look forward to playing our part in delivering on the recently launched National Sports Policy which sets out a clear commitment to a coherent national strategy for swimming.
Sean MacDermott Street Swimming Pool has benefited from significant investment in recent years and it has been upgraded to a high standard. With the support of the general public I am confident that the partnership with Swim Ireland will bring a new lease of life to this important local facility to ensure that it will become more sustainable long into the future. “
The extended opening hours will run for an initial trial period of nine months. This will see the pool operational for seven days a week with public access extended to full days Saturday, Sunday and Monday. The new timetable will also include exciting new fun family based water activities.
Swim Ireland President Maggie Purcell commented ‘Swim Ireland is delighted to be involved in the launch of a new look Sean MacDermott Street Swimming Pool on Friday. Working in partnership with Dublin City Council and the North East Inner City has been fantastic and we are delighted to be involved in delivering a new service in this community. We are excited to deliver a range of classes and activities for all ages in the pool and look forward to seeing the locals enjoy all that will be on offer.’
Sean MacDermott Street Swimming Pool built in (1970’s) was regenerated over a six-month period in 2017. Sean MacDermott Street pool has benefited from significant redevelopment in recent years with over €250,000 invested in upgrading the facility.
The interior of the building received a complete overhaul to create a state-of the-art facility which includes four new changing rooms, now suitable for multiple groups. The swimming pool itself is in excellent condition with a first-class filtration system installed. Modifications were made to the provisions on water circulation, filtration and disinfection, measures designed to promote energy conservation.
The current facility is 25m x 9m in size, comprising of 5 lanes, making it an excellent facility for training, individual leisure use or group use. Recently the exterior of the building has received a facelift with new signage installed to make it more visually appealing and welcoming for the community and surrounding business’.
Michael Stone, Chairman, NEIC Programme Implementation Board said "Sean MacDermott Street Swimming Pool is an important local amenity in the north east inner city area and this has been acknowledged with the allocation of significant funding under the NEIC Initiative to upgrade it to its current standard.
The North East Inner City (NEIC) Programme Implementation Board is committed to ongoing support of the Pool with funding provided to get the partnership between Dublin City Council and Swim Ireland off the ground. As envisaged in the Mulvey Report (Action 3.9), the extended opening hours for public swimming will ensure that locals will have increased opportunities to participate in swimming and other water-based family recreational activities particularly over the weekend.
The Board will also continue to work with the City Council and North East Inner City communities to ensure that the new partnership approach will be successful in keeping the local pool as affordable and accessible as possible for all.”
**Kellie Harrington, International Boxer, said, “**I am delighted to see Sean MacDermott Street Swimming Pool extending its opening hours to seven days a week. I always found competing in sport and staying active gave me a real purpose in life. I am confident that the extended opening hours in the Sean McDermott Street Swimming pool will have a positive impact on the local community.