AS IF The Waterfront Pool and Leisure Centre hadn’t had enough to deal with following the floods which decimated the town at the end of last year, they were forced to temporarily close last week after a smash and grab raid which saw two windows broken and a small safe containing around €150 stolen.

The alarm was raised at around 12.10 a.m. on Friday morning when manager of the Pool and Leisure Centre Barry Dempsey was notified that the security alarm at the premises had been activated. He immediately set off for the pool and when he arrived he was greeted by broken glass.

“They broke a big double glazed widow to get in,” he said. “They didn’t do too, much damage I suppose. When they were inside they broke another window. The problem we had is that glass got in the pool so we had to close up for most of the following day to make sure it was all removed. As well as that, double glazing is quite expensive.”

Once inside, Barry believes the burglars knew where they were going and made their way to the office.

“They knew where the central office was,” he said. “They made their way straight there and took a small safe that we have from the car-park here. Thankfully, there wouldn’t have been much cash in it. I think really it was our alarm that saved us. They must have got spooked when it went off. I was down here within 12 minutes of it going off, so it must’ve been a case of them grabbing what they could and making a quick escape.”

Gardaí were immediately called to the scene and an official investigation is ongoing. CCTV footage from the pool is being examined and they have asked that anyone who may have spotted anything suspicious in the vicinity of the Waterfront to contact them at Enniscorthy Garda Station.

This latest setback will most definitely not have been a welcome one for The Waterfront Pool and Leisure Centre after suffering once again at the hands of flooding at the start of the year. Staff had to work around the clock to pump water from the building and try to stop it from getting into the swimming pool.

Thankfully this time around, the staff were able to clear up the broken glass from the break in and sort the pool out quickly and it was a case of business as normal from the following day onwards.

The Waterfront Pool and Leisure Centre in Templeshannon.