This is the first of what will be a series of posts where I will try and set out the facts behind the 3 City Council public swimming pools that are currently under financial strain.
The usage figures below are pretty stark and speak for themselves.
| Total Visits Per Pool | 1998 | 2008 | 2009 | 01/01/09– 02/05/09 | 01/01/10– 03/05/10 |
| Crumlin | 67,054 | 40,148 | 35,265 | 11,493 | 9,704 |
| Coolock | 67,388 | 29,611 | 29,768 | 10,787 | 7,830 |
| Sean McDermott | 66,478 | 35,880 | 31,418 | 11,372 | 10,177 |
For example the usage of Coolock has more than halved between 1998 and 2009, while operating costs including wages have greatly increased in line with the general trend in Celtic Tiger Ireland.
The perceived wisdom behind these numbers is that private facilities springing up around the city has taken trade away from the DCC pools however this remains to be proven.
These figures set out in stark detail the challenges faced by councillors in our collective efforts to map out a positive future for these facilities.
