Minister Ross and Cllr Donnelly at a packed public meeting concerning the re-opening of Glenalbyn Swimming Pool, May 2017.
Since the closure of Glenalbyn Swimming Pool in December 2013, both Minister Ross and Independent Stillorgan Cllr Deirdre Donnelly have worked tirelessly to get the pool re-opened. From protests to public meetings both have worked to ensure that the local community get their pool back ASAP.
At the County Council meeting in March 2018 Cllr Deirdre Donnelly raised the issue of funding for Glenalbyn Pool. She was assured by the DLRCoCo Chief Executive, Philomena Poole that the €10m put aside for Glenalbyn was still there and was available to progress the pool. The meeting was webcast and this is on public record.
In order to avoid further delay in getting Glenalbyn Pool rebuilt, in late 2017 Minister Ross initiated a mediation process between Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council and Kilmacud Crokes GAA Club by engaging the services of an official mediator from Sport Ireland to assist with the progress of talks.
At the Council meeting on Monday May 14th 2018 a motion was passed to expand the boundary of the Draft LAP for Stillorgan 2018 – 2024 to include the Glenalbyn site. However, the money is still being provided by the Council for the development of Glenalbyn pool regardless of whether the Glenalbyn site is included in the Stillorgan LAP. Therefore the expansion of the Stillorgan LAP to include Glenalbyn is irrelevant to the development of the pool. Council management have confirmed this on several occasions.
In sum, the finances are assured and the Chief Executive of DLRCoCo has committed to the provision of Glenalbyn Swimming Pool, irrespective of whether it is included in the Draft LAP for Stillorgan 2018 – 2024.