Date: 12 October 2021
Senior officials from the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media have agreed to meet with the voluntary board of the campaign for a community pool for West Wicklow, confirmed Deputy Steven Matthews. This was following a series of engagements between Deputy Matthews and Minister Catherine Martin’s office, seeking support for the campaign. This meeting will be held in the weeks following a meeting between the campaign team, Wicklow TDs and the CEO of Wicklow County Council, Frank Curran. Discussing the news, Deputy Matthews said:
“I have been working with Deirdre and the other members of the campaign for several years and I was delighted to be able to facilitate a meeting for them with the relevant Department officials. I will be working with the board in advance of the meeting to ensure that they are best equipped in how to approach the meetings, particularly with the Department. I am fully supportive of the campaign for a pool in West Wicklow and the work that the team has done – on a completely voluntary basis has been extraordinary.
“The focus now needs to move to getting the political will to progress this project – because the public demand for a swimming pool is there, the campaign has received support from SWIM Ireland and Water Safety Ireland, now it needs the support from the local authority and ultimately the Department in order for it to progress.
“I am looking forward to supporting the campaign in our meetings in the coming weeks with Wicklow County Council and with the Department officials. I hope that these meetings will provide the basis from which the campaign can build from and prioritise what their next steps need to be. Ultimately this is about providing a new public amenity in a part of the Wicklow that has been historically overlooked for this type of infrastructure – I will continue to work with the campaign team to assist them in working towards this goal, concluded Deputy Matthews.
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