Outdoor urban swimming pools

Sir, – While the debate continues as to whether Dublin's George's Dock should be used for whitewater rafting or as an open-air swimming pool (Sorcha Pollak, "A 'big, bold' idea for Dublin city: A heated outdoor swimming pool in George's Dock", News Review, April 17th), I would like to remind your readers that in the 1940s Dublin Corporation provided two rudimentary swimming pools on the river Tolka.

One was called the Silver Spoon and was located between Finglas and Cabra and the other was located in Griffith Park, Drumcondra, where a children’s paddling pool was also provided. These pools delivered free swimming to the children of the nearby housing estates and also to some of the children from the inner city who often walked considerable distances to the pools.

While the pools were eventually closed, the concept was good and we should not rule out the possibility of opening a public lido in the Docklands or perhaps in the Phoenix Park. – Yours, etc,

LOUIS O’FLAHERTY,

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Santry,

Dublin 9.