Treading Water: Investigating the Mystery of Maynooth’s Missing Swimming Pool
The second-oldest swimming pool in Ireland belongs to Maynooth University, and currently sits unused on South Campus, having been closed for the past 11 years. The pool is unsuitable for use, with redevelopment costs estimated at more than €250,000 according to Vice President of External Relations Rebecca Doolin, who was Director of External Relations at the time of the facility’s closure in 2015.
Quoted in an article in The Journal at the time, Doolin described the pool as a deteriorating facility, the need for significant repair and extensive refurbishment, noting the ongoing costs of keeping the facility open, including additional costs maintenance and staffing, as causes of the pool’s shutdown. This statement came less than a year after a ventilation problem caused six schoolchildren to be hospitalised after inhaling “vapour from the swimming pool’s plant room,” during a swimming lesson, according to The Irish Times, although nobody was seriously injured. Since the closure, however, talks have gradually begun to reopen between Maynooth University, St. Patrick’s Pontifical University, and Kildare County Council (KCC) about the potential refurbishment of the facility.
At the time of writing, there is no swimming pool on campus suitable for use, and no public swimming pool in the entirety of North Kildare. The only local option for residents of Maynooth is the pool at the Glenroyal Hotel or Carton House, both privately owned. This presents a clear deficit in the community, with those unable to afford the costs of either hotel forced to swim outside the local area, which is particularly challenging for students.
The newly established Swim Club on campus currently trains at the National Aquatic Centre in Blanchardstown; 16 kilometres away. When asked about their thoughts on the redevelopment they responded:
“[The pool reopening] would make it significantly easier for us to train, as getting to the Aquatic Centre requires costs [such as the hiring of buses], and payment into the facility. To add to that, it’s not easy to get there in the mornings, making it difficult for students to attend training, thus lowering our attendance rates for sessions. If the pool was reopened, it would allow us to train locally, which [in-turn] allows much more flexible training hours and increased attendance.” This further demonstrates the urgent the need for a swimming pool available to students of MU and SPPU.
Public information on a renewal of the swimming pool on campus, or the development of a new pool in Maynooth altogether is vague. However, it is included in Kildare County Council’s Maynooth and Environs Joint Local Area Plan 2025-2031, available to view on KCC’s website. The plan has been effective since 1st of April 2025. Within the 251-page document, the inclusion of a swimming pool available to the residents of Maynooth and its surrounding areas appears twice, outlining “the potential development of a swimming pool in Crewhill Key Development Area [located north of North Campus, next to Moyglare Abbey] as part of the Municipal Sports Facility.” The document also includes the intention to “support the delivery of multi-use sports facilities [including play facilities and a universally accessible swimming pool] on appropriately zoned land within the Joint Plan area.” It is unclear whether this involves the refurbishment of the pool on South Campus as well as the construction of a newly built swimming facility.
In September 2023, now former-Fine Gael TD Bernard Durkan inquired about the progress of negotiations regarding the redevelopment of a swimming pool in Maynooth. According to the Thomas Byrne, then Minister of State at the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Kildare County Council sought €1 million for this project through the Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF). However, this request was declined, as “the total funding applied for under the scheme significantly exceeded the amount available to allocate and the swimming pool project in Maynooth did not score sufficiently highly to be awarded a grant.”
The lack of public swimming facilities appears to be a matter of growing concern across Kildare. At a Celbridge-Leixlip Municipal District Meeting on the 20th March 2026, enquiries about a swimming pool being built was brought forward by local Fine Gael Councillor Paul Brooks and Social Democrats Councillor Nuala Killeen. At the time of writing, three undisclosed sites have been marked as potential locations for the construction, according to Leinster Leader.
After contacting local politicians and TDs with my own queries, I received various answers on the matter, though they all echo similar sentiments. According to Fianna Fáil Councillor Donna Phelan, KCC are saving “to refurbish the pool with LPT funding being put aside each year.” Fine Gael Councillor William Durkan also referenced this fund in his reply:
“The latest update on this issue is that discussions are ongoing about the practicalities of delivering an upgrade. There has been allocation of funds under LPT in preparation for expected works.”
Sinn Féin Dublin Fingal West TD Louise O’Reilly campaigned against the swimming pool's closure in 2015, as the then-Sector Organiser of the Services, Industrial, Professional and Technical Union (SIPTU). When asked about her experience, O’Reilly said that: “I was representing the workers in the pool at the time. It was quite a while ago, so my memory is a bit scant,” and referred me to her colleague Réada Cronin TD, who was “very involved in the campaign.”
Cronin responded, corroborating O’Reilly’s recollections: “This is an issue that I had worked on as a Councillor 10- odd years ago, and still nothing has been done. I have written to the Council on this issue, and I have also written to the Minister for Public Expenditure. Will be sure to follow up if I hear anything back.”
It was through email correspondence with Labour Party Councillor Angela Feeney that the most substantial information emerged. At a Municipal Meeting in February 2024, her suggestion to redevelop of the old swimming pool on South Campus was met “positively by both the President [Eeva Leinonen] and MU Head of Estates [Michael Rafter].” In April of that same year, Feeney followed up on her suggestion, receiving the response that “a report was received from the Economic Community and Cultural Development informing the members Kildare County Council are currently in discussions with Maynooth University, St Patrick’s College, Swim Ireland and other bodies with a view to advancing a swimming facility for North Kildare. Meetings are ongoing with various suppliers and consultants with a view to exploring alternative solutions,” according to the minutes available on the KCC website.
According to Feeney, an update to her question “would be provided in committee” in private afterwards, but “due to sensitivities in those discussions, that the report/response to my question was not to be shared publicly.” A month later, Fianna Fáil TD Naoise Ó’Céarúil posted a video on Facebook claiming that construction would begin later that summer. According to Feeney, the news of talks beginning to reopen the facility was based on “my initial suggestion to the MU President and my agenda follow up question. That's politics, you might say but I think it's not the politics I am guided by.” I reached out to Ó’Céarúil but received no comment. As of February 2026, Feeney has confirmed that “progress is being made and the story is positive.”
Councillor Séan Duke offered the following statement that: "Maynooth University has had discussions with Kildare County Council (KCC) and tentative proposals to upgrade the pool have been prepared. A number of issues need to be addressed before the talks between MU and KCC can resume." What these issues remain unclear, however it has been said by Naoise Ó’Céarúil’s office that sometimes it is “advisable” to not disclose everything to the public, and that the private ownership of the facility complicates development.
Fine Gael TD Joe Neville provided a similar statement: “Since the pool was closed back in 2015, I believe due to it at the time being deemed unsafe, Kildare County Council have been involved exploring options to reopen the facility. With the introduction of KCC, it would mean that the pool would be both a community facility [and for students of] the University. There has currently been no funding allocated from the state to help get the pool back running.
In 2024, KCC really began pushing the idea of repairing the pool for reopening and ongoing conversations continue between the Department and KCC in relation to funding to help with this. Securing a public pool for North Kildare is a key aim of mine and I will continue to work on this.” Neville raised the swimming pool gap on the 11 December 2025, saying that “no one is more aware of this gap than North Kildare,” in conversation with FG Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport, Patrick O’Donovan.
Maynooth University has yet to offer a statement on the matter.
Although talks remain positive, progress appears stagnant for the time being. Local politicians and MU faculty have provided irregular updates on the situation.
TDs Aidan Farrelly and James Lawless, and Councillors Tim Durkan, Daragh Fitzpatrick, Pádraig McEvoy, Peter Melrose, Paula Mulroe, Paul Ward and Brendon Wyse were contacted for comment but did not respond.
It is presumed that any potential statements from the latter representatives would likely mirror those given by respondents.
