I welcome the Minister to the House. It is a national disgrace in 1995 that Ireland does not possess a swimming pool of an Olympic size and standard. Michelle Smith from Dublin has emerged as an international swimmer, but to do so she had to move to Holland, where she had access to two 50 metre swimming pools within easy distance of the town in which she resides. That a 50 metre pool is essential for Irish athletes to compete internationally can be verified from her remarks made in an article in the Sunday Tribune of 26 February 1995 when she said:
I've always performed better in a 50m pool. I don't worry about translating the performances. Some people, noticeably, swim better in the smaller pool and then just flop in the 50m. It's like putting Christy O'Connor Jnr on a Pitch and Putt course and then asking him to play a round of golf or having Sonia O'Sullivan run on the roads for six months and then ask her to race around a track. When you get half way down the pool, you begin to wonder where the wall is.
It is vitally important that international athletes have access to a 50 metre pool. As Gary O'Toole before her has proved, there is talent among our Irish swimmers, but without proper facilities this talent will go largely unrecognised.
In addition to urging the Minister to undertake funding of this pool, I wish to make a special plea to have it located in Limerick. The University of Limerick is home to the only physical education course in Ireland for teacher training, with 150 undergraduates at present. They will become the teachers of physical education and trainers of our young people in the future. In addition, there are 65 students studying sports science, a course designed to enable these students to become coaches and trainers of teams in a variety of sports. As the location of the national coach and training centre is already at the University of Limerick, the administrative structures are already in place. Michelle Smith has already shown that competitive swimming requires not only a 50 metre pool but access to general fitness training, and these facilities are provided in the University of Limerick in the form of gyms and training facilities.
Another reason for locating the pool in Limerick is that the diving pool currently located at the university is already used as the venue of the Irish diving team when it needs to practise for international events. The existing pool in the university, which is fortunately longer than average, but not quite 50 metres, can still be used as a standby exercise pool and perhaps a junior training pool for the younger swimmers.
With an internationally sized pool, international competitions could be staged in Ireland. Given that Limerick, which has easy access to international destinations in North America, South America and Europe, with plans for further afield, there is no reason why international competitors cannot travel easily to Limerick. In addition it is not that far from national destinations, especially, for example, if the primary routes are used to Dublin, Cork, Galway, Waterford and Rosslare.
Not only could Limerick be used, therefore, as a fitness and exercise venue for our emerging swimmers, but it could also be seen as a potential tourism attraction to the mid west area and would add greatly to a regional balance within the country. In this respect, it is suggested that the pool would be better located in Dublin, but too many events are already staged in Dublin and not enough in the regions. There is no good reason why this pool should not be located in Limerick.
