Management at Templemore Garda College have been accused of holding the community to ransom over the use of the swimming pool.
The pool was meant to re-open at the end of November and see licenses issued to local groups and schools to carry out swimming and lifesaving lessons following government intervention however, that never came to fruition.
In recent days the We Just Want to Swim Templemore group reported that when a local swimming instructor asked for information on obtaining a license he was informed the matter was now closed and there would be no further help provided.
Deirdre Ryan from the campaign group says there is both a lack of transparency and appetite from the college on the matter and she hopes the Justice Minister will step in tomorrow :
“They are essentially holding the town to ransom, on a positive note the Minister for Justice Simon Harris will be in Templemore tomorrow and he stated yesterday that he will bring up the matter with the Garda College and it will be discussed – he is hoping for a positive outcome. From our perspective we want Simon to instruct the Garda College to open the swimming pool immediately to allow schools to have access within the next couple of weeks.”
Deirdre says they will continue to fight for access no matter what :
“We will jeep fighting and we will keep pursuing a positive outcome here and whether that is more demonstrations, whatever that way that comes out we have no intention of giving up. We can’t allow individuals to hold the town to ransom, we’re doing this to keep pour children safe and our children’s safety is paramount and we don’t give up on that.”
