Lucan pool works unlikely to finish by year end

THE latest delay in the opening of Lucan Swimming Pool is the “least surprising announcement of the year”, according to Cllr Paul Gogarty (Ind).

The pool had been scheduled to open at the end of October, but works are not yet completed, and unlikely to be finished by the end of this year.

Lucan has been waiting for decades for a swimming pool and it is a running joke on local social media sites.

In a briefing to councillors this week, South Dublin County Council said “the contractor has been unable to “either increase the resources on site to a sufficient level or to effectively coordinate the work from sub-contractors to meet the key deliverables and dependencies to be in a position to complete the project by the end of this month as they had projected.”

“This has had a knock-on effect on the timing of the connection of utilities to the site and, more significantly, delayed the ordering of the moveable floor for the secondary pool.”

The council say it is their intention to pursue “appropriate remedies available under the building contract for any unjustified delays over and above the previously submitted programme.”

The have been advised by the contractor that the lead-in time for the moveable floor to be delivered and installed can be up to 12 weeks.

The council and their selected facility partners, Aura Leisure, will arrange an information session for local councillors next month. Cllr Paul Gogarty said the project is a continuation of “multiple delays that SDCC has described as ‘embarrassing.’

“However no meaningful action ever appears to have been taken to make anyone accountable.

“There are very few works remaining, but the pace has been slower than a sloth crossing a road. As such, it’s now highly unlikely the pool will be open before 2024,” said Gogarty.