€43 Million Irishtown Swimming Pool Approved to Replace Markievicz Centre Lost to MetroLink
A new €43 million swimming and leisure facility has been approved for Irishtown Stadium in Ringsend, Dublin, to replace the Markievicz Leisure Centre on Townsend Street, which is being demolished to make way for the Tara Street station of the MetroLink rail project. The new Ionad Spoirt Markievicz will include a 25-metre, six-lane swimming pool, a secondary training pool, sauna and steam facilities, a fitness suite, and three studios, with construction expected to begin in the third quarter of 2027 and completion targeted for 2029.
Background
The Markievicz Leisure Centre on Townsend Street has been a fixture of Dublin's south inner city for decades, providing swimming, fitness, and leisure facilities to communities in the Docklands, the south inner city, and the wider Dublin area. The centre is named after Constance Markievicz, the revolutionary and politician who was the first woman elected to the Westminster Parliament, and it has served as a community resource for generations of Dubliners. Its demolition, necessitated by the construction of the MetroLink's Tara Street station, has been a source of significant concern for local residents and community groups who rely on its facilities.
MetroLink is a 19-kilometre underground rail corridor connecting Swords and Dublin Airport to the city centre, with an estimated cost of between €14 billion and €17.5 billion. The project, which is being delivered by Transport Infrastructure Ireland, is one of the largest infrastructure investments in the history of the state. The demolition of the Markievicz Centre is one of a number of community facilities and buildings that will be affected by the construction of the line, and TII has committed to replacing or compensating for all such losses.
The decision to locate the replacement facility at Irishtown Stadium in Ringsend — approximately 2.5 kilometres from the current Townsend Street site — has been the subject of some debate. Local residents in the south inner city had hoped for a replacement facility closer to the current location, and some community groups have expressed concern that the Irishtown site is less accessible for the communities that currently use the Markievicz Centre most heavily. TII and Dublin City Council have argued that the Irishtown site offers the best combination of available land, planning feasibility, and accessibility.
Key Developments
The approval of the €43 million facility represents a significant commitment by TII to mitigate the loss of the Markievicz Centre. The project is fully funded by TII as part of the broader financial framework for the MetroLink initiative, and it will be delivered by Dublin City Council. Project manager Don Daly has confirmed that construction is projected to commence in the third quarter of 2027, with a target completion date in the third quarter of 2029. The project is structured to ensure that the new facility is fully operational before the existing Markievicz Centre is closed, thereby preventing a gap in service for the community.
The new facility, to be named Ionad Spoirt Markievicz, will be a modern two-storey complex designed to meet the highest standards of energy efficiency and accessibility. The 25-metre, six-lane swimming pool will be the centrepiece of the facility, providing a resource for competitive swimming, learn-to-swim programmes, and recreational use. The secondary training pool will be available for aqua fitness classes, rehabilitation, and beginner swimming lessons. The fitness suite and three studios will provide a comprehensive range of exercise and wellness facilities.
The approval of the facility has been welcomed by swimming organisations in Dublin, who have long argued that the city is significantly under-resourced in terms of public swimming pool provision. Dublin has fewer public swimming pools per capita than comparable European cities, and the loss of the Markievicz Centre — even temporarily — would have been a significant blow to the city's aquatic infrastructure. The new facility at Irishtown will not fully compensate for that loss in terms of location, but it will provide a modern, well-equipped replacement that should serve the community for decades.
Why It Matters
The approval of the Irishtown facility is a positive development in the context of the MetroLink project, which has been the subject of significant controversy over its cost, its timeline, and its impact on communities along the route. The commitment to replace the Markievicz Centre with a facility of equivalent or greater quality is an important signal that TII is taking its community obligations seriously. It also reflects a broader recognition that major infrastructure projects must be accompanied by genuine investment in the communities they affect, rather than simply compensating for losses with financial payments.
The swimming pool dimension of the project is particularly significant. Ireland has a chronic shortage of public swimming pool provision, and the situation in Dublin is especially acute. The National Aquatic Centre in Blanchardstown is the only 50-metre pool in the country, and it is located on the western edge of the city, far from the communities of the south inner city and the Docklands that the Markievicz Centre currently serves. The new Irishtown facility will not address the broader shortage of pool provision in Dublin, but it will provide a modern, accessible resource for the communities of the south-east inner city.
The MetroLink project itself, when completed, will transform public transport in Dublin, providing a high-capacity, high-frequency rail connection between the airport, the city centre, and the northern suburbs. The disruption caused by its construction — including the demolition of the Markievicz Centre — is a necessary cost of that transformation, but it is a cost that must be managed carefully and with genuine regard for the communities affected.
Local Impact
In Ringsend and the surrounding Irishtown area, the announcement of the new facility has been broadly welcomed, though some residents have expressed concern about the impact of construction on the existing Irishtown Stadium and its facilities. The stadium, which is used by local athletics clubs and community sports groups, will need to be carefully managed during the construction period to minimise disruption. In the south inner city — including the communities of Pearse Street, Townsend Street, and the Docklands — the announcement has been received with cautious optimism. Community groups have welcomed the commitment to replace the Markievicz Centre but have reiterated their concern about the 2.5-kilometre distance between the new facility and the current site. Dublin City Council has indicated that it will work with community groups to ensure that transport links between the south inner city and the new Irishtown facility are adequate.
What's Next
Construction of the new Ionad Spoirt Markievicz is expected to begin in the third quarter of 2027, subject to the completion of detailed design and planning processes. The existing Markievicz Leisure Centre on Townsend Street is expected to remain open until the new facility is operational, ensuring continuity of service for current users. TII has committed to providing regular updates on the construction timeline and to engaging with community groups throughout the process. The MetroLink project's overall construction timeline envisages the line being operational by the mid-2030s, with the Tara Street station — which necessitates the demolition of the Markievicz Centre — among the first sections to be built.
