Great excitement in Mayo town over new public amenity
A pop-up swimming pool in Ballinrobe is set to open to the public in the coming weeks.
It is located on the Convent Road (beside the entrance to the Covent of Mercy), situated between St. Joseph’s Primary School and Ballinrobe Community School. The modern, fully functioning 13-metre long pool, in a hard-sided covered structure, is heated up to 30 degrees.
The official opening date for this temporary facility is expected to take place when the schools reopen after the current summer holidays and will be in the town for a minimum of 12 to 18 months.
After that, it is hoped that a permanent swimming pool will be built in Ballinrobe to cater for its population and surrounding areas.
The idea for a swimming pool for the town came from the Ballinrobe Community Futures Action Plan 2023-2028, which gave the community the opportunity to have their say on what facilities they would like for the future of Ballinrobe.
Frank Keane, chairperson of Ballinrobe Community Development Council, said that the project will be of huge benefit to the town and is ideally located.
“We heard of pop-up pools located in Dublin and Monaghan, and we did our research. We felt that this could be a good project for Ballinrobe and we contacted Swim Ireland, who then sent us the criteria for what we needed to have the pool here in the town.”
Frank said it will be less of a cost for children who want to go swimming instead of having to go on buses to Claremorris. The facility will also benefit the local community groups.
“There are 450 children in St. Joseph’s Primary School and in Ballinrobe Community School there are 850 students. When either school wants to go for swimming lessons they have to hire a bus, which also costs money. This is an opportunity which will include everyone and that is very important.
“You can visit the Swim Ireland website, and you can book your slot. At the moment children’s swimming lessons will take priority but everything will fall into place and Swim Ireland will help organise the booking side of things as well.
“The Western Care Association, Ballinrobe Active Retirement Group, the men’s and women’s shed groups, and the mother and toddler groups will all benefit from this facility. The pop-up swimming pool will be wheelchair accessible,” he said.
The Ballinrobe Community Development Council chairperson was also grateful for the support from the local councillors, Michael Burke, Patsy O'Brien and Damien Ryan, the members of the Claremorris-Swinford MD, Ministers Dara Calleary and Alan Dillon, and Tom Gilligan, director of services for the Claremorris -Swinford Municipal District.
“This is being run in conjunction with Mayo County Council. The director of services, Tom Gilligan, has been a massive help.
"The pop-up pool is to follow criteria and build data to show the need to build a permanent swimming pool in Ballinrobe and I hope that this can happen.
"The population in the town is growing and we currently have a population of over 3,000.”
Frank Keane is aiming to have the facility up and running when the schools return.
“We are working towards having the pool up and running when the schools come back from their summer holidays, towards the end of August, and we hope to have everything in place by then.
“Swim Ireland are the leaders in this project and we are doing our best from our side of things as well. It is a case of so far so good.
"We also have to compliment Kellman Developments, as they have got this project to where it is in record time. We were also lucky to have good weather when the pop-up pool was being installed here. The facility is also a great opportunity for local employment in the running of the pool.
"Overall, we are looking at a positive future for Ballinrobe and its surrounding areas.”