The restoration of Dublin’s 200-year-old George’s Dock will finally start in the coming months, with public consultation showing a strong appetite for its redevelopment as an outdoor pool.
The disused, drained dock, once earmarked for a €25 million white-water rafting centre, is a protected structure, and conservation and repairs are required to its limestone and granite walls before any new use.
While the work has been planned for several years, parts of its structure sustained additional damage last August when a fire destroyed the bridge that carries the Luas line over the northern end of the dock.
Contractors for the restoration work will be sought before the end of this month and are due to be appointed in March, with work starting in April and expected to be completed by July, the council said.
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Last October and November, the council held a public consultation on the future use of the historic dock. More than 2,000 people responded, with 70 per cent favouring a recreational use and 90 per cent of those seeking the conversion of the dock into a swimming pool, the council said.
Ownership of George’s Dock was transferred from the former Dublin Dockland Development Authority to the council 10 years ago. In January 2019, the council published plans to transform the dock into a white-water rafting and fire brigade water rescue training centre at a projected cost of €12 million.
By December of that year, when it was approved by councillors, the cost had risen to €23 million. When the council sought expressions of interest to build the scheme in January 2021, it had hit the €25 million mark. The plans were later abandoned.
In July 2022, the council proposed replacing the white-water rafting scheme with a public lido or pool, as well as an emergency services training centre, still expected to cost at least €25 million. However, councillors would not support the project, with several saying it was white-water rafting by another name.
“Further proposals from interested stakeholders have been put forward for the use of Georges Dock. These include a public lido, a parks space, an events space, sporting uses and markets,” the council said.
[ First look at proposed all-season heated public pool for Dublin’s George’s DockOpens in new window ]
Following the public consultation process, the lido or pool has now emerged as the top choice. Workshops for councillors and stakeholders to determine the next steps are to be held shortly.
The Dublin City Lido Committee, which has campaigned for the swimming pool plan, said the survey result is a “powerful expression of public will”. It would continue to advocate for a “publicly accessible lido, managed as a public amenity”, and said it looks forward to contributing to the next phase of engagement on the project with the council.
“Thousands of Dubliners have clearly indicated they want George’s Dock to become a place for health, wellbeing, inclusion and shared civic life,” the group said.
“The results reflect not only strong support for a lido, but a consistent set of public values: themes highlighted as essential include community involvement, affordability, full accessibility, safety and security, and year-round usability.”
