A professional in the Irish leisure business has promised to help in a voluntary capacity with efforts to keep the swimming pool and leisure centre at the Bay View Hotel, Killybegs, from closing.
He was speaking at a public meeting last night organised by Independent County Councillor, Niamh Kennedy, which dealt with a number of matters of local interest.
Henry Coleman, Managing Director of the Bay View, told the meeting that the leisure centre had lost €70,000 last year and such losses could not be sustained.
The losses had been continuing since 2013. For the first five months of this year, the loss was €30,000, he said.
Membership fees totalling €47,000 at present were not enough to cover wages in the leisure centre, apart from the other costs, he revealed. “We are happy with the way the hotel in general is going”, he said, “but not the leisure centre.”
He said that, if the centre could not be leased within the month, it would close on September 1. And he emphasised that the leisure centre is the only part of the Bay View business that was closing.
Asked by Thomas Pringle TD if it might be possible to extend the closing date to allow for a drive to increase membership, Mr Coleman said: “We are not closing the leisure centre until 1st September and I will listen to anything between now and then.”
Niall Cull, CEO of DLR Leisure, Dublin, said he had only heard on Tuesday about the difficulties with the Bay View leisure centre and he remarked that such problems were not uncommon in the hotel industry.
He told the meeting: “If I can help in any way, I will.”
Mr Cull, who is on holidays in the south west Donegal area, said he has 30 years experience in the leisure business, beginning in hotel management.
He explained that DLR Leisure now works closely with public authorities and educational institutions and suggested that there might be possibilities in that direction for the Killybegs leisure centre.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Mr Cull’s role as CEO involves the leadership, management and development of more than 150 staff operating facilities including three large multi-facility sites consisting of swimming pools, gymnasiums, fitness studios, skateparks, all-weather pitches and sports halls.
Other facilities managed by the group include two golf courses and stand-alone all-weather pitch facilities as well as a gymnasium, two fitness studios and outdoor all-weather pitches.
Commenting on the difficulties at the Bay View, Mr Cull said: “This is not uncommon in hotels in Ireland unless the hotel has a catchment sufficient to sustain its membership.” Mr Cull said that some hotels had local memberships of between 1,200 and 1,400, backed up by visitors.
Councillor Kennedy pointed out that that if the leisure centre closes, it will affect other businesses in the area.
It was agreed that a committee is to be set up to help co-ordinate efforts to keep the swimming pool and leisure centre from closing.
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