Open Aras Attracta pool to community

THE refurbished therapeutic swimming pool and changing rooms have reopened at Aras Attracta in Swinford.

The pool had been closed completely for the past year, and has been closed to the public for the past five years.

Its reopening for therapies has prompted a call for the pool to be made available once again to the local community.

Senator Michelle Mulherin said she had raised concern with HSE management about the closure of the pool and pressed for it to be reopened.

The pool is a couple of degrees warmer than regular pools and provided water therapy for people with disabilities, she explained. Also it was used by a vibrant Swinford Swimming Club and is where many children of the area learned how to swim.

She said: “The pool is once again being used for therapies by the HSE and other organisations.

“I have received confirmation from the HSE that it is working through proposals with community representatives to provide for use by the public again. It is imperative that this happens and I am hopeful that it will.

“This is the only pool within a 17 mile radius of Swinford and its reopening to the public and for therapies is a great boost to the town and its rural hinterland. It stands to reason that an asset such as it should not be lying idle and should be used for the benefit and wellbeing of the community as a whole.”