Paul Davis gets first swim
July 1980
THE charge of the light brigade was put into the shade on Wednesday last when Drogheda swimming pool opened, almost fifty years after the townspeople decided to build it.
Prior to three o’clock all looked tranquil and calm in the beautiful structure containing two pools, but once the session began it took on a different aura of bedlam, chaos as all hell broke lose.
First to take a dive in was 14 year old Paul Davis of 376 Ballsgrove. Paul who is a pupil at St. Mary’s C.B.S., Drogheda has been attending sessions regularly in the swimming pool at Gormanston for the past seven years. A veteran at this stage he declared that the pool was ‘nice’ and was particularly pleased with the temperature which was certainly warmer than conditions ouside where he had been queuing for over an hour and a half.
Not too far behind Paul were his mates, Willie Gallagher, David Leech, Donal Gibney, Tony Campbell and Anthony Brannigan all from Ballsgrove and all of whom spoke favourably about the pool. ‘Anything is better than having to go to Gormanston or Navan’ was Anthony’s comment.