New opening date announced for Portlaoise Leisure Centre

The opening date for Portlaoise swimming pool and leisure centre has been announced.

The Portlaoise swimming pool and gym was promised to open by last November but that date passed with just some of the outdoor pitches opened, and the pool opened only to a local swimming club. 

Now Sean Quirke, Manager of the newly named Laois Leisure Ltd, has announced a new opening date. 

"We are delighted to announce the return of public access to the swimming pools and gym in Laois Leisure-Portlaoise from Monday February 28th, 2022.

He gave the reasons for the delayed reopening. 

"Like many other businesses we were impacted by Covid related staff shortages and recruitment challenges which in addition to some outstanding contractor works have prevented re-opening before now. Thankfully, our recruitment efforts have secured a core team of staff to facilitate the initial re-opening phase of the facilities.

"We understand that many of you are eagerly awaiting the return of these incredibly important and necessary facilities in such a vibrant town and county and look forward to seeing you all in the very near future.

"We are continuing to work behind the scenes with Laois County Council to have the facilities, systems and staff ready to provide you with the safe, friendly and efficient services you deserve.

"Our website laoisleisure.ie is currently under construction so please bear with us while we develop this. Until laoisleisure.ie is up and running, portarlingtonleisurecentre.ie will carry relevant updates for both sites.

"While we currently have some capabilities to respond to telephone calls in Portlaoise, this is limited due to staff training and systems setup. Our team are actively responding to emails, please send any queries to [email protected]  We look forward to welcoming you to Laois Leisure-Portlaoise," Mr Quirke said.

The public centre which closed down in March 2020 due to Covid restrictions, was liquidated in June by its volunteer board, due to lack of money.

It has since been taken over by Portarlington Leisure Centre and refurbished, with the company name changed to Laois Leisure. Laois County Council owns both facilities. 

The Leinster Express also understands the new board is set to have its full meeting.