Council still paying for upkeep of Coolock Swimming Pool it has closed and likely never intends to use again

When the roof of the Coolock Swimming Pool was badly damaged in December 2024 by Storm Darragh, the council was forced to close the facility down.

Now, in a memo circulated to councillors this week, the council says it has considered “a range of options in relation to providing a sustainable leisure facility for the local community”.

It proposes “relocating swimming services from Northside Shopping Centre to a new swimming pool facility adjoining the existing Kilmore Recreation Centre.”

This seems to be the official acknowledgement that the Coolock pool will not be reopening – at least not under the council’s control.

However, the council is still signed up to a long long lease with Northside Shopping Centre and its owners AM Alpha.

“We're  obligated to do that," said Daryl Barron, a Fianna Fáil councillor last week. 

So the council was forced to step-in and fork out for repairs when the roof was damaged further during Storm Bram in December 2025.

In January, the council put out a tender for the “Contract for Emergency Works to Coolock Swimming Pool Roof” – with an estimated value of €130,000.

Dublin City Council became aware the “glazing structure” was at its end of life, a spokesperson said last month. 

The glazed roof panels, they said, had become loose and unsafe during times of storms or high winds.

“To ensure the safety of the public and to prevent damage to other roofs within the shopping centre during adverse weather Dublin City Council procured a contract to replace these panels with new secure Perspex panelling, along with protecting swimming pool from the elements,” they said.

The council did not respond when asked if it can get out of its lease on the swimming pool, or if it will continue to fall on the council and public purse to cover any further damage that may arise in the future.

Plans for new pool

The council had announced in early 2023 that it intended to close the Coolock Swimming Pool, citing the prohibitive cost of refurbishments.

Instead of €5 million for refurbishments, the council said it wanted to build a new pool for €10 million, on the nearby site of the Kilmore Recreation Centre.

But due to Storm Darragh, the Coolock pool closed before the new one was open to replace it. 

So, the community has been without a swimming pool for over two years now.

Suggestions last year from Social Democrats Councillor Paddy Monahan to bring a temporary pop-up pool into the area, so local kids can still learn the important skill of swimming, were shot down by the council.

A response from Ger Carty, a senior sports development officer at the council, listed a number of challenges. 

This included the need for security, putting up a marquee to house the pool, finding a level site, accessing water to fill the pool, providing toilets, installing gas heating and electric services, and hiring a crane.

Although, at the time, Robert Burns, chief executive of Monaghan County Council since September 2023, and director for Housing and Community Development in Fingal before that, had managed it twice. 

Burns oversaw installation of Swim Ireland’s pop-up pool first in Donabate, and then in Carrickmacross, Co. Monaghan. 

“I often think feasibility is a matter of will and funding,” Burns said last year.

Meanwhile, plans are afoot to build a new leisure centre at the existing Kilmore Recreation Centre, including a new swimming pool, the council’s Capital Programme for 2025 to 2027 says.

That budget for big once-off projects includes €1.5 million for that project in 2026, and €3 million in 2027.

But another council report puts the total cost much higher than that €4.5 million – at €8.7 million.

The council is seemingly angling to use some of the community gain fund, promised to locals living around the construction of the new Oscar Traynor Woods housing complex, to help pay for the new pool in Kilmore West.

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.