Kildare Senator calls for Defence Force Training Centre swimming pool to be re-opened to third parties

A Kildare-based Senator has called on the Defence Force Training Centre (DFTC) swimming pool to be re-opened to third parties.

Explaining her view, Fianna Fáil Senator Fiona O’Loughlin told the Leinster Leader: "On many occasions I have stood in the Oireachtas spoke about the plethora of issues that face those working within our forces.

"I have raised the big issues within the force, around the need for cultural transformation, the deplorable pay levels some people are forced to work on, the lack of investment and the recruitment and retention issues faced by the force every day... but sometimes it’s the smallest of issues that can really grate with people and can damage morale in a workplace."

She continued: "A local woman recently contacted me in relation to the swimming pool facilities at the DFTC in the Curragh.

Fianna Fáil Senator Fiona O'Loughlin. File Pic.

"The pool has been used by the family of soldiers from Newbridge, Kildare, The Curragh and surrounding areas for many years, as there is no public pool in the locality.

"During the Covid pandemic the DFTC had to be closed, however as the world returned to some normality the pool was not re-opened for use."

"I have been liaising with colleagues on the issue and I raised it as a formal oral question in the Seanad this morning."

She concluded: "I did not receive the green light on the re-opening; (the management) have cited safety concerns around the re-opening, and the matter is under active consideration with a report to be submitted to the Department shortly."