Rooftop pool in Northside Shopping Centre to close Thousands protest end of ban on no fault evictions

Northside shopping Centre has been forced to close due to the costs of essential upgrades, which are said to be in the region of €5m.

dublin City Council (dCC) have been operating Coolock swimming Pool on the oscar traynor road for almost 50 years, however there are significant upgrades needed to bring the facility up to modern standards. it suggested relocating the swimming services to a new swimming pool attached to the existing Kilmore recreation Centre at a cost of €10m. dCC commissioned a report in 2022 to examine the works required to modernise the facility, including replacement of the roof structure, significant upgrade of the pool and deck, new plant and electrical upgrades and the installation of new changing, staff and toilet facilities. if funding is secured, a planning application will be submitted some time in 2024.

The council said the pool is limited in its usage as it does not allow other sports and activities to be offered to the community.

The recreation centre is located about 300 metres from the Northside shopping Centre off the oscar traynor road.

The report identified a cost in the region of €5m to carry out these upgrades.

“stand-alone pools were of their time, they are extremely expensive to run, and in particular energy costs are prohibitive and unsustainable,” said the local authority.

“The investment of €5 million in a service that will continue to be limited and confined by its location does not represent good value for public monies,” it added.

The new facility proposed at the Kilmore recreation Centre, would include the installation of a new 25 metre, six-lane pool with associated changing facilities, a new gym and studio and a new reception area to link the pool and existing facility.

As part of this development there would also be an option to install two all-weather playing fields which would be managed by dCC for use by the community.

The modern facility would reduce the environmental impact through the installation of energy saving measures.

The total cost of the new facility would cost €10m and the local authority is currently examining possible funding options.

Continued from previous page “Shame on this Government, shame on those independents who supported them, shame on every housing minister who has brought us to this point.”

Ms O’Reilly spoke of her own experience with homelessness in light of the ending of the eviction ban.

“I don’t know if anyone in the Government was ever evicted into homelessness, but I was,” she said.

“I felt ashamed because I couldn’t provide a house.”

She continued: “When I think about that now and I think about people who are facing eviction and facing homelessness, they should not feel any shame, the shame is not theirs, the shame is the Government’s.”

There are 11,742 people in emergency homeless accommodation as of last month, according to the Government’s official tally.

In a speech in the Dáil on Wednesday, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said the housing crisis is “one of the greatest political challenges of our time”.