Cllr Helen Farrell and I will be updating as more news becomes available.
21st March 2025 - Significant Update by Paul Gogarty TD and Cllr Helen Farrell
Recap – This is a troubled project. The last significant update on this page was July-October 2024 when Cllrs had last got a tour, and the works finally appeared to be progressing smoothly. However, the project was again beset by delays. Things finally appear to be turning a corner in March 2025 with additional resourcing and staffing being given by SDCC.
Jump to the latest pool timeline here. Further down in this updated report we have put together a few questions and answers about delays to date, why there hasn’t been a review, where is the accountability etc. These have been asked on social media before, so we thought it’s a good idea to put them here again. The project is still a live contract and is also covered by confidentiality clauses, so SDCC has not given us the full details and some things are speculation rather than fact. We have included some photographs here, but there were restrictions in terms of what types of photos could be taken. We would like to have shown more but this is a working site and some footage is not permitted.
Where we stand now
Cllrs and TDs were given an updated tour on 14th March last and both Helen and Paul had separate discussions with officials both on-site and off-site over the last few weeks. So the information below is current.
In February SDCC announced a “detailed consideration and review of the works programme followed by assignment of additional in-house, consultant and sub-contractor resources where necessary to liaise with the current contractor and sub-contractors to programme and co-ordinate remaining activities to address the project delays and to expedite the completion of the project.”
What this means in practice is that the Council now has senior staff overseeing key elements of the work on a daily basis, dealing instantly with any issues that arise which it can provide a resolution for.
So why hasn’t this happened before given the ongoing delays?
Our assumption is that the Council weren’t let do this before as it likely would not have formed part of the contract. For the past year and a half, the Council has been observing works on a regular basis which was way more than they were doing during the 2021-23 period. But to get to the level of involvement they are currently at could only be done with the full agreement of the main contractor.
These direct arrangements will obviously work better as the project in the past was beset by Covid issues, supply chain issues and materials inflation which contributed to out of sequence works meaning a lot of waiting around.
The Council’s involvement at a direct level is evidenced by the fact that they have now taken on an additional architect to allow better scrutiny of the project. Most days there will now be two architects on the site at some stage and regular meetings take place with the main contractor subcontractors.
So what does this mean in terms of the pool timeline?
Paul mentioned last summer that the pool works were at a very advanced stage. From our tour of the site this month, we can see that there has been further progress that is encouraging:
The heating system in the building is fully functional
Most lighting is operational
The air conditioning system is ready, but the site is still dusty which is why it hasn’t been switched on yet
Landscaping is at an advanced stage
A large tree that is to form a focal point in the centre of the building, has been ordered for the site and is expected to arrive imminently
Toilets are working
Water system is operational, and showers are operational
SDCC is aiming to get all dry work done first and then sequence the wet work when this is completed. Major dry side final finishing and commissioning is underway:
- The estimated dry site opening (gym and dance/exercise rooms) is by the end of April
- Two concrete pours were booked in when we surveyed the site
- Kitchen service equipment due this week
- Aura Leisure has gone to tender for a café manager
- Reception area frame is complete and ready for finishing
- Main entrance area almost complete
- Tarmac paths at advanced stage as well as rear entrance route from the playground side
- Seating is ready
- Wheelchair push button access system in situ on both sides of building
- Dance and fitness rooms completed, and painting touch up almost done as of our visit.
- The smallest activity room which doubles as a meeting room is almost completed
- Partition awaited for larger exercise room but due shortly
- Engineered timber floor with rubber underneath for activity rooms was installed some time back and has now settled
- Other rooms ready and being used for training by Aura
- Weights room and gym area ready to go
- Gym lockers ready
- Gym showers working
Works on the swimming pool are advancing:
- As of this week the barriers around the pool are due to be lifted and getting ready for final sealant
- Changing rooms for pool itself were substantially complete last July and final tiling now scheduled
- The pool deck is ready to be sealed
- The ceiling work should be completed near the end of this month
- Tilers are working “all hours” to get outstanding works completed and final pool tiling work commences shortly
- The pool itself is likely ready to be filled for the first time in a few weeks, allowing for testing
- Reasonable pool opening estimate is end of summer/start of school year
The Council is still awaiting some material ordered from abroad, but this is expected shortly. It is difficult to get a timeline out of SDCC for opening of the pool and this is understandable given that previous predictions were way off the mark. However, the “summer” has been mentioned and in our estimation, this would mean the end of the summer as an optimistic suggestion, ie, the start of the new school year, although it would be nice to be pleasantly surprised for once.
Leisure Centre building
This has not changed much since the last update in October. The Náionra is operational since September and Esker Boxing Club’s rooms in the building are progressing. However, the downstairs part of the leisure centre is still being used for storage meaning the floor repairs to the basketball court won’t be done until much later.
Car park
To reiterate, as this is a building site, there is no possibility for the car park to open until all machinery and equipment is off-site, or at least permanently off a designated portion of the site. Otherwise, public access cannot be permitted on health and safety grounds. We remember that the initial closure period was estimated as a few months, so this parking access issue has gone on for way too long and has had knock-on effects elsewhere. However we are pleased to report that work on the car park is now progressing.
Some wider questions and answers:
If the project hasn’t been completed in a timely fashion why hasn’t SDCC retendered?
Retendering has been suggested by so many and would seem like the logical approach to this project, but the real situation is more complicated than that. If the Council had done this at the first opportunity available, which may have been 2022/23 - but we are not sure as we don’t have access to the contractual clauses - then it’s possible that a new operator would have tendered and there’s a 50/50 chance the pool would be open by now. But equally the price of the project would have increased massively, especially if the project was retendered in the last two years. The current pool project has not mushroomed in price compared with, say, the children’s hospital, but it would have with a new tender.
The estimated completion price of the pool now is in the region of €20 million rather than the estimated current bill of €13 million. This wouldn’t all be leveraged as works are substantially done, but it would cost more and there would be significant additional delays. A tender process would be nine months and then certain works already done might have to be redone for certification purposes. It’s also quite likely in any retender at any stage that there would be no main bidders because it would be harder to tender for a partially completed site and the work would be more complex.
Someone messed up here, why isn’t there accountability?
Successive Chief Executives of SDCC promised that there would be a review and accountability, but they also pointed out that a review could not take place during a live contract, due to various contractual obligations, including confidentiality clauses.
So while information has been sought constantly, there is no mechanism to force this to be divulged and indeed there would be legal issues in terms of what precisely could be released. It’s frustrating as we have seen this project drag on and on. Various people have different opinions about this in terms of what can and cannot be done, but I am assuming the Council are looking at this very carefully from a legal perspective, even if they weren’t on top of their game in managing the project in its early stages, however, it is fair to say that the early stages happened mostly during Covid and the various lockdowns and breaks in supply chains worldwide.
Who is responsible for what in relation to the pool?
2014-2015 Lucan Swimming Pool Campaign (Helen Farrell/Sandra Whelan) and most Lucan Councillors (including Paul Gogarty) played a role in mobilising public pressure and revitalising SDCC’s commitment through motions in the development plan and the rolling three-year capital programme (there’s a longer history and this may be the subject of a separate post at a later stage). The project got moving again in 2015 after it had disappeared off the radar in 2008.
2016/17 All Councillors supported the plan and worked to allocate funding of €6.2 million from SDCC resources to the project. Former local Minister Frances Fitzgerald and then-Sports Minister Shane Ross assisted in obtaining €3.8m of Government funding. The project had climbed to €12 million by the time of tender, which was covered by SDCC
2018 Pool design Part 8 – Voted by Councillors
2019/20 Tender for Pool – SDCC Management. There was an issue with the first tender so it had to be retendered, delaying the project by nine months. Councillors had no role here.
2020-2023 SDCC Management and main contractor P J McLoughlin. This part of the project was beset by genuine delays as a result of Covid, with related materials shortages and other supply chain issues thrown into the mix. This was the period where SDCC has been accused of not being on top of the project or monitoring things sufficiently. There were genuine issues that nobody could control, to be clear, but equally there were other problems which SDCC will not go into in any detail because of contractual obligations and confidentiality clauses.
2023-2024 SDCC Management appears to be paying more direct attention to the works with regular visits. However, the project is still beset by delays.
During this period Aura Leisure is appointed as the company to manage the Lucan pool after successfully being awarded the tender. It’s worth noting that Councillors had no role in this tender either. What we know is that a) there is a sinking fund to allow for major refurbishment work 30/40 years from now and b) the tender contract did not include a subvention from SDCC to make the prices cheaper, so it is in effect a commercial pool. Aura has been pushed to offer the lowest prices possible within this context and SDCC has said it will fund specific elements on offer (eg designated classes and initiatives) but the headline price is not reduced. This means a huge disparity between the pricing of Clondalkin pool managed by South Dublin Leisure Services (a not-for-profit company that SDCC is involved in, but which did not tender for the Lucan Pool) and the Aura-operated one. This is hugely annoying and frustrating to many people, including elected representatives, but there is no voting power available to force the Council to amend this.
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20th March 2025 - Gym by end of April, pool by end of summer is latest prediction. Major update to follow shortly.
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March 4th 2025 - As of now my understanding is that the gym part of the complex should finally be able to open in April. However there are ongoing complications with the pool section even though the building is substantially complete.The Council gave a bit of a non-update last month (see below). As this raised more questions than it answered I was planning to do a more detailed analysis of this along with Helen to go behind what can and can't be said due to contractual obligations and confidentiality clauses. I also had a report of my discussion with the CEO at a recent meeting. We have held off on this as we have been promised a site visit in the coming weeks and it makes sense to see what it's like on the ground first.
February press release from SDCC:
"Given the ongoing challenges to the completion of the project at Lucan Leisure Campus, the Council will, subject to agreement with the project contractor, seek to implement revised arrangements for delivery of key elements of the project.
"This will involve detailed consideration and review of the works programme followed by assignment of additional in-house, consultant and sub-contractor resources where necessary to liaise with the current contractor and sub-contractors to programme and co-ordinate remaining activities to address the project delays and to expedite the completion of the project.
"When the extent of the outstanding works is fully reviewed, an updated project completion date will be communicated to provide certainty to the public and our project partners, Aura Leisure, on a timeline for the facility opening, followed by regular updates to ensure all parties are kept fully informed for the remainder of the project.
"We understand the importance of this project to the local community and the frustration that these delays have caused. Revising project delivery arrangements reflect our commitment to complete this fantastic amenity as soon as possible and to the highest standard, and we greatly appreciate the support from the councillors and the public in this regard.”
ENDS
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