A total of €44,000 has been set aside in the Galway City Council budget to carry out a feasibility study on re-introducing the tidal pools at Ladies Beach in Salthill.
There have been calls over the past year for the tidal pools to become operational again, and in March, a petition calling for their re-opening amassed more than 6,000 signatures. The calls were also given support by Fine Gael Galway City West councillor, Clodagh Higgins.
Ladies Beach once had tidal pools - contained areas which would deliberately flood at higher tides, creating an area in which people could swim in sea water, but at a shallower depth and within a swimming pool like environment. However, in the late 1980s, Ladies Beach was considerably redeveloped, and the tidal pools replaced by a plaza-like structure.
Supporters of the tidal pools say they would be ideal for less confident swimmers looking for a safe, sheltered area in which to swim in the sea, and that they could also operate as places where swimming lessons could be taught.
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Cllr Higgins [pictured above] has welcomed the funding for the feasibility study, and said it was “another step forward in helping to further enhance the amenity value” of Salthill.
“It makes sense on many levels for these pools to be reintroduced as many people in Salthill learnt how to swim in the now defunct tidal pools,” she said. “Over the pandemic, we saw a huge resurgence of interest in sea swimming and having a facility like the tidal pools opened would be a positive for those taking up swimming who may feel a little daunted by the prospect of open sea swimming.”
