'SAVE our Pool'. That was the simple appeal from over 100 protestors at Monday night's meeting of Letterkenny Town Council as the campaign to retain the existing Leisure Centre at High Road intensified.
Protestors are demanding the Leisure Centre be retained and not sold off to help offset the costs of the new ¤18 million Regional Sports Complex at Sallaghagrane. The protestors were mainly from the Swilly Seals swimming club in Letterkenny but were joined by other clubs and members of the local Community Residents' Group.
The decision to stage the protest was taken at a public meeting last Thursday night. It has emerged that over 2,000 people have signed petitions against the plan to close the Leisure Centre.
Users of the pool are fearful a deal has already been done to sell off the pool site and they are deeply concerned about costs and the affordability of the new facility at Sallaghagrane run for profit. However, at Monday night's meeting the County Manager, Mr Michael McLoone said clauses could be inserted into the management of the new facility to protect existing clubs and sporting organisations in the town. The final decision to dispose of the site will rest with councillors who need to pass a Section 183 order for it to proceed.
At the protest, the Chairman of the Swilly Seals, Mr Donal McMenamin said the club had been in operation for 21 years and over 1,200 children had been involved in that time. The club currently has over 100 young members.
"We're here to protest tonight to retain the existing pool. We have just about enough hours at the existing facility and we are fearful about costs and access to the new facility which might not suit our needs," he said.
" If the council do close it they will regret the decision in ten years' time. We are very apprehensive about costs at Sallaghagrane, nothing is certain and we have no guarantees," he added.
Conor Boyce, a coach with the Swilly Seals said: "The large turnout tonight shows the depth of feeling there is to retain the pool. It would be a bad decision to close it. There is no basis, economically or financially, for such a move. The Manager agreed at the January meeting to carry out an audit of other council held assets and bring a report back to the council. There are other assets in the county that can be sold instead of the pool," he said.
Mr Eddie Harvey, whose children have been with the Swilly Seals, highlighted the accessibility of the current location.
"Kids from the nearby schools can all walk safely to the High Road centre. I feel we should retain the pool because we will never be able to replace such a facility in the heart of the town in the future," he said.
After the protest Mr McLoone said the operational costs of trying to run two pools in Letterkenny was the key issue.
"The existing facility was losing ¤200,000 per year and is now losing ¤140,000. I'm being put under pressure by auditors about how we propose to eliminate this debt. At the same time as we have this deficit for one pool would it make sense to say we could open another. It is about the annual operating costs and the market that is there to support that pool," he said.
"The first thing in opening the new pool is to ensure that it is accessible to the public and that all of the people who need access and can't afford get access. This is a public facility at Salllaghagrane. It is not being built for private gain and clauses to protect clubs can be inserted in the licensing agreement," he added.
Town Clerk, Mr Paddy Doherty told the Donegal News on Friday he expected the property to be going out on the open market in April," he said.
