AN IRISHMAN'S DIARY

"It's like someone dying in my family" said Jimmy Neill, from Cabra. "It will be a huge loss. I feel very bad about it."

He was standing in the sunshine outside the Markievicz swimming pool, on Dublin's Townsend Street, his neat grey hair still wet from his swim. Around him were gathered some of his male pensioner friends and they were all upset - by the news that the 27 year old pool is to close.

"It was a great amenity. It got us out of the house and we met one another. We only heard about it last week and we got an awful shock," said Jimmy.

He, fellow Dubliner Tommy Reid, and Wicklow resident. Danny Rock have been visiting the Markievicz for years, making use of the provision whereby pensioners get free entry to Dublin Corporation pools.

Mr Rock travels from north Wicklow to swim in the Markievicz. His pensioner status means he can travel free to Townsend Street and get free access to the Dublin Corporation pool.

"I'm three years coming here now. I swim three to four times a week, do a mile every time. It keeps me fit."

Mid Morning Visitors

Mid morning visitors to the capital's municipal pools will be familiar with this group of citizens and their habits.

Danny Rock is a typical example of a man who swims. He togs out, gets down into one of the roped off lanes, and sets off, up and down the pool until he has completed a mile. This can take the best part of an hour. Then its out of the pool and off to the dressing rooms.

Other pensioners behave differently. They are men who talk. Such a man gets into one of the lanes of the pool, bunkers down and says hello to the others there. He talks for a while, talks some more, swims two lengths and then settles down for a chat. The huddled hunkered chatting groups usually contain both male and female pensioners.

Once back in the men's dressing rooms it is no longer possible to distinguish between men who talk and men who swim. All male pensioner swimmers once showered and divested of their togs, turn into men who dry and dress themselves at a leisurely pace while chatting. Noticeable aspects of this phenomenon are the men make no use at all of the cubicles provided for those of a modest nature; that there are a truly remarkable amount of conversations (concerning old US movies or former Dublin landmarks) which begin "Do you remember...?"; and that there are occasional conversations beginning "Jayney, did you see your one?"

But recently the talk in the dressing rooms of the Markievicz has concentrated on the Corporation's plans for the pool. Pensioners, office workers, people from local communities, club members, school children, members of staff of The Irish Times, are all engaging in worried conversation about the future of the baths.

Site for Sale

The man they all need to talk to is Mr Noel McElliff, of the Corporation's Community and Environment Department, the person in charge of the city's eight pools.

The Markievicz is in need of substantial refurbishment, Noel explains. The cost for this has been estimated at £1.5 million and the Corporation was baulking at spending such a large amount. So, when the site was included in a designated tax incentive area, Corporation officials saw an opportunity to get private finance to pay for a new pool.

The site is now up for sale. Conditions laid down by the Corporation include one that proposes the site must include plans for "a modern leisure facility which must include a 25 metre long by 6 lane wide swimming pool with associated facilities (possibly saunas, jacuzzi, small gym)".

This is the same length as the current pool but one lane wider.

Over the new facility the developer can build a residential or commercial or mixed use 4 storey building.

Any developer wishing to get his or her hands on the site - must agree to either build the leisure facility for the Corporation as part of the deal, or else retain the facility but agree that be made available to the general public at times and charges to be agreed with the Corporation.

It was felt not only is the Markievicz pool itself in need of renovation but the whole complex is less than acceptable for the 1990s. "All of our eight pools are, well, just swimming pools," as Noel put it. "The feeling is that it's about time Dublin had something more than just swimming pools."

Last year, there were approximately 630,000 visits' to the pools, at a cost of around £1 million.

Fitness Facilities?

The Corporation wants to haven a range of keep fit facilities eventually available alongside all their eight pools and their experience with the Markievicz development will be considered when decisions are being made for the other pools.

Closing date for the receipt of proposals for the Markievicz site was July 5. If there is a successful proposal then the development should, in theory, be finished by July of next year, which is when the tax designated status runs out for the site.

However, some leeway may be granted in this regard. The pool, then, says the Corporation, is likely to close around August or September and be open again less than 12 months later.

The Sean McDermott Street pool is less in need of refurbishment than the Markievicz and has a room put aside where visitors can safely leave their bicycles.

Meanwhile, the pensioners who spoke to The Irish Times were suspicious that the new privately developed pool would be beyond their means.

"We'd be happy if we could get into the new pool for the same price as the Markievicz - for nothing," said Tommy Reid.