Charlie McConalogue urged to review Buncrana leisure centre funding decision
After his appointment as minister of state for sport on Wednesday, the Donegal TD has been called on to carry out an urgent review of why a funding application for a new leisure centre in Buncrana was unsuccessful
Newly-appointed minister of state Charlie McConalogue has been urged to carry out a review of the decision not to grant funding for a new leisure centre in Buncrana.
The Donegal TD’s new portfolio includes sport and he has been called on to have his new department review the decision last year to reject a €11.7m application to the Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund.
Buncrana has been without a public swimming pool since 2015 when the leisure centre closed for renovations.
It was recommended in 2018 that the building on Aileach Road be demolished and replaced with a new facility.
Planning approval for a two-storey building of almost 2,500 square metres and a 25-metre-long pool was granted in January.
The funding application was to be supplemented with €5 million from Donegal County Council.
Donegal Sinn Féin TD Pádraig Mac Lochlainn has called on the new McConalogue to carry out an urgent review of why the funding application was unsuccessful.
“The Inishowen peninsula of 40,000 population has been without a community leisure centre and swimming pool for far too many years now,” he said.
“The local committee working with Donegal County Council have now progressed this to an exciting and shovel ready project with planning permission secured.
There was a widespread expectation that this funding application to the government would be successful. Instead, we had widespread despair and anger as evidenced at the public meeting attended by hundreds of people in Crana College, Buncrana, last November”.
“The appointment of a local TD as the Minister of State for Sport provides a real opportunity to get this project over the line, once and for all. I am asking the minister to carry out an urgent review within his department and to work in partnership with the local committee, Donegal County Council, and the local sporting organisations and schools to make this a good news story for our communities in Inishowen.”