Why we need an outdoor swimming pool for Cork

The Lee Baths closed in 1986, the same year I was born. So many Cork people have fond memories and stories of the baths, which were a big part of Cork city and remained open for 54 years.

It’s such a pity that Cork city hasn’t had an outdoor swimming facility to match it since then. A whole generation of us missed out on this experience, but it’s not too late for us yet - and it is certainly not too late to secure it for the next generation.

A Cork Lido, a safe open air swimming facility, would bring enormous health, wellbeing, social and economic benefits to Cork.

Many people do not have access to private swimming pools in Cork city and many can’t afford to pay membership fees to access private pools. Learning how to swim and learning about water safety should be available to everyone – of all ages and abilities. Swimming is good for mental and physical health as well as providing a social outlet for people.

The pool could also be used for swimming and diving competitions – as the Lee Baths were often used for. Businesses would thrive in the area as people from all ages would use it as a social place to gather and it would be an ideal location for cafes, restaurants, sauna and gym facilities which in turn would create local employment.

I learned to swim when I was seven in Cúil Aodha in the Gaeltacht. This outdoor, (unheated at the time) community-run swimming pool was a place of many great childhood memories of summers spent with friends.

It’s sad when I hear friends in Cork city whose children are on long waiting lists for swimming classes and one friend from Bishopstown told me her daughter was upset she couldn’t play with the other children in the deep-end of the pool while on holidays recently because she hadn’t been able to avail of swimming classes yet.

Dublin has a number of outdoor swimming facilities and Lidos are becoming popular again all across Europe with over 100 in operation across the UK. They are positive for tourism in these areas and I often hear from families who travel back from places like London or Bristol talking about a day spent at the local Lido – many of these Lidos are run as social enterprises with great benefits to the local area.

There is no reason Cork can’t out-do Dublin and rival other European cities in this area.

I went to support the 500 swimmers who took part in the Lee Swim earlier this month and it is clear that an open-air swimming facility in Cork city would have enormous interest.

Swimming is a fast-growing sport in Ireland with 9% of the population engaging in it. We only have to visit Myrtleville or any popular beach in Cork to see people swimming all year round.

Just this month Galway City Council applied for €12million in funding from the Government’s Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund to create a tidal pool for swimmers on the crest of a wave. If Galway can do it then there is no reason why Cork City can’t.

We are a city surrounded by water and we should be using the River Lee as much as we can. The water for such a Lido in Cork would of course be filtered and the pool could be heated, along with adequate lifeguards on duty to ensure safety throughout the year. cThe Cork Lido Campaign which is run by marathon swimmer Niall Kenny and others is estimated to cost approximately €9 million. A number of sites have been identified already including Horgan’s Quay. Cork City Council should seek state funding for the Cork Lido before the end of 2024.

We need to be really ambitious about what we can achieve for people in Cork and create more social places for people of all ages to gather.

Young people (and their parents) often tell me that they don’t have enough places to meet and socialise – a Cork Lido would be another great, healthy space in the City for people. This is a really exciting campaign and it would be a wonderful boost for Cork to see it happen.

I brought a motion to my first full city council meeting to ask that Cork City Council take the plunge and apply for the necessary funding for this project.

This will be discussed at the Council’s Environment, Water & Amenity Strategic Policy Committee on September 17. I will continue to support the campaign for a Cork Lido along with my Labour colleagues on Cork City Council, Peter Horgan and John Maher.