Guth & Tuairim, Bealtaine 1982

IML. 4 UIMH 2 BEALTAINE 1982 WACH 30p Oungloe 111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 · S\1\/IMMING POOL 'Tht H~rtb W£st Svi 'VJVJ1.18 Clu The swimming pool at Ostan na Rosann is being made available to the North-Western region on a long-term lease. The pool would be run by a committee representing the interest and safety of the community that wishes to use it. The County Council are willing and prepared to help out if a voluntary contribution is forthcoming locally. A swr. cf. £6,000 is needed basically to get the venture off the ground. rr you are willing to have a say in this contricution it is suggested that a voluntary sum of £1 per family, individual, club, association, etc. be submitted. On behalf of the Treasurer, contributions can ·be collected by any of the acting com~ittee or through school principals/headmasters. Contributions can also be sent by direct post to·l Donal Johnson, Hon. Treasurer, Meenmore, Dungloe. It would be helpful if contributions would be accompanied by a list of the number cf interested persons in a family, club, association, etc. or the name of any ind,ividual subscriber. An early reaponce will be appreciated. In February 1981, "Guth 7 Tuairim" carried this story on it 1 s front page. It was welcDme news in the area because although there are miles o:f sand7 beaches here in the North-west, the sea is usual~ too cold :for swimming in,except during a few short Summer months. The heated indoor swimming pool in Oaten na Rosann, Dungloe would enable swimming enthusiasts to take to the water all year round and more importantly, it could be used by schools to teach the children of the area to swim. (Incredibly, only about. half our children can swim). The North West Swimming Club was :formed well over a year ago and it's committee approached Ostan na Rosann about the lease of it's swimming pool, which had been closed :for lllaDY years. It was not profitable "Why have you switched on the Hazard Warning lights while I'm still driving ?" tor the Ostan to keep the pool open after the ~e increases in the price of oil (used for heating) from 1973 onwards. The Swimming Club also star1;ed a campaign to raise the £6,000 needed to get the pool operational again and many schools, businesses and individuals paid into the fund. But now, well over a year later there is no sign of the pool opening and people are demanding to know where the delay is. A spokesman for the Swimming Club told •Guth 7 Tuairim" this week that the hold-up was due to the refusal o:f Ostan na Rosann to agree to a long-term lease :for the pool. He said a v2r,y able committee had been :formed to run the pool :for the community, they received backing from the County Council and over £3,000 had been raised but that Ostan na Rosann would : not grant them a long-term lease. He said they could not possibly spend th~ands of pounds renovating the pool without the lease and although negotiations had been going on there was no word of an agreement being reached. He said they were annoyed and disappointed that nothing had come of their efforts and at the moment we had the ridiculous situation of youth clubs in this area having to travel to the pool in Letterkenny for swimming lessons. We contacted Ostan na Rosann and a spokesman tor them agreed that the delay in opening the pool was due to the failure of the two parties to come to an agreement on the lease. He maintained that the sort of lease being sought by the Swimming Club would give them vi~tual custody 0f the pool. Nobody would be more p~.eased to sea the pool open than them and it definitely had a tremendous potential but they (Ostan) obviously needed some protection as well. He also pointed out that the funds collected were in the possession o:f the Swimming Club and none of these were lodged with the Ostan. The spokesman however told "Guth 7 Tuairim" that there would definitely be some movement on the issue within the next few weeks and if' it was at all feasible, the , po_.ol would be opening. Ta siiil againn uilig an linn snaimhe a !heiceail :foscailte gan mhoill t Buion Ceoil CholmCille,Cnoc Fola a bhuaidh an comortas ar th Domhnach Cisca.