Call for council to build a swimming pool in Cork's fastest-growing town

An ongoing countywide review of council-owned leisure centres will likely decide whether it’s feasible or not to build a swimming pool in Co Cork’s fastest-growing town.

There is a major clamour among the ever-increasing residents of Midleton to get such a facility.

Projections in the County Development Plan (CDP) show Midleton’s population growing to 27,854 by 2034 —making it the largest town in Co Cork — while neighbouring Carrigtwohill will hit the 15,000 mark.

Far smaller towns have such council-run facilities, including Dunmanway, Cobh, Youghal, Fermoy, and Mallow.

Chairman of the East Cork Municipal District Council, Fine Gael councillor Rory Cocking, said the greater Midleton area is one of the fastest-growing areas outside of Dublin and the council must now plan to build a swimming pool to serve its population.

Numerous representations

He said that he’d received numerous representations from constituents about this and the lack of other sporting facilities in the locality.

Mr Cocking said, in general, Ireland is lagging behind other countries when it comes to providing local authority-run swimming pools.

“A recent report by Swim Ireland said that each pool in Ireland equates to 80,000 people, whereas in Scotland each pool equates to 14,000. The population’s exploding in East Cork and badly lacking amenity provision."

Social Democrats councillor Eamonn Horgan maintained if a leisure centre was developed in the town, it would be so well used it would pay the council back “in leaps and bounds”.

Noreen Brennan, the most senior council official in the region, said there’s an ongoing review of the operation of such services in the county and she would revert back to councillors when she gets information from the officials carrying it out.