The reopening of the Garda College Swimming pool has been cautiously welcomed by groups in the Templemore area.
It was confirmed that An Garda Siochana are in the process of restoring access to schools and community groups in the Templemore area, but questions still remain about the level of access that will be provided.
Deirdre Ryan from the We Just Want to Swim – Templemore group says that while this is good news, the Garda College are making the situation more complicated than it needs to be.
“We welcome the response but we’re very cautious.
“On the 9th of November they made a similar statement to say that the college pool would be open by late November and that never happened, and now we’re nearly a month along that process and it’s only again I think because of pressure put on by the campaign, the We Just Want to Swim Templemore campaign that they’ve come out with this statement.”
Local TDs have written to Commissioner Drew Harris on behalf of campaigners in the town in an attempt to restore full access to the Garda College swimming pool.
Deirdre says that they hope intervention by the Garda Commissoner will fully resolve the issue.
“It’s really about getting more and more ministers and representatives involved. Drew Harris is the commissioner for An Garda Siochana, so he does have power.
“I got an email back from the policing authority saying that they had no comment to make on this, so there’s an awful lot of people not wanting to interfere, not wanting to intervene and we’re hoping that Drew Harris now can take on the battle and encourage the Garda College to continue on this really important tradition for the community of Templemore.”
