A €3.75 million loan by Galway City Council is the final step needed to bridge the funding gap for a state-of-the-art aquatic centre on the west side of the city.

Galway’s regional aquatic centre in Knocknacarra, which was approved by city planners in June 2025, awaits a decision by Galway City Council to draw down a €3.75 million loan to get the project over the funding line.

The aquatic project featuring a 35 x 25m pool, steam room, gymnasium, and coffee dock, is expected to cost €20 million. The centre aims to be one of the best in the region, and would help ease pressure on the many water polo and swim teams vying for limited pool space in Galway.

An original investment in January 2020 by the Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF) allocated €8.003 million to the project. However, plans were stalled due to construction costs.

Then, the project was recently granted an additional €3.25 million by the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport. This brought the total LSSIF investment up to €11.25 million.

In May, the council agreed to match the latter allocation by securing a loan.

If Galway City Council secures the loan — a 20-year facility at an interest rate of 2.2pc — the aquatic centre project would be fully funded, according to the council’s Director of Finance, Helen Kilroy.

The funding would then be provided to the company selected to build and operate the facility.

Ms Kilroy sought councillors’ approval at the September plenary meeting to apply for the loan.

However, councillors raised concerns about potential additional construction costs, the company that will be responsible for operating the aquatic centre and the terms of the borrowing.

Cllr Alan Curran agreed that the investment will create a “great project when it is done” but raised caution in using the public funds on it when the company’s ethos in unknown.

The item was deferred for further information until Ms Kilroy meets with tenderers and gathers the “most up to date financial costings” with supporting documents.

Ms Kilroy estimates that information will be available in the next 12 weeks, at which point she will bring the information again before the councillors.

Cllr Peter Keane and Cllr Donal Lyons will have their seats on the board of the aquatic centre activated after the full funding package is confirmed.

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting scheme.