Swimming pool in Cork city ‘a health-and-safety concern’

URGENT refurbishment works are needed at a Cork swimming pool, because of safety concerns over the condition of the building, it has been claimed.

Video footage at the Gus Healy swimming pool, seen by The Echo, showed multiple leaks in the roof. 

The pool, on Nursery Drive in Ballinlough, is managed by LeisureWorld, on behalf of Cork City Council.

Speaking to The Echo, Fine Gael councillor Shane O’Callaghan expressed concern over the condition of the facility, which he said “needs a major upgrade”.

“It’s reached the point, now, where it’s a health-and-safety concern and I think that something needs to be done urgently, in terms of funding a major refurbishment of the place.

“The clubs involved there, the people who attend there, have been looking for funding for a major refurbishment for years now, but it’s coming to the point, now, where it can’t wait any longer.

“It has to be done. It’s not good enough. It’s turning into a major health-and-safety hazard,” Mr O’Callaghan said.

Last month, the Labour Party candidate in the city’s South East ward, Peter Horgan, wrote to Cork City Council, requesting that the local authority apply for state funding to revamp the pool.

“A new round of large-scale infrastructure investment is opening soon,” Mr Horgan told The Echo at the time.

“The Gus Healy swimming pool, in Ballinlough, is well overdue for an upgrade.

“It is in the ownership of the local authority and services a large number of schools and clubs in the immediate area. It deserves to be state-of-the-art.”

Speaking this week, Mr Horgan called on Cork City Council to “move swiftly and proactively to repair the damage, firstly, for safety reasons”.

“They should move swiftly and proactively to apply for funding from the Government to enhance Gus Healy swimming pool,” Mr Horgan said.

“This is an urgent matter. We can’t allow the pool to go to wrack and ruin.”

A spokesperson for Cork City Council said: “There is an issue with a very small section of roof at the Gus Healy pool at the moment.

“We have a contractor examining the issue for us.”