Mitchelstown leisure centre opens after three decades of planning delays

Decades of false starts, parochial rows, and evolving plans finally came to an end last night as a North Cork town officially unveiled its multimillion-euro community leisure centre.

First proposed in the 1980s, the ribbon was cut on the €3.2m Mitchelstown Leisure Centre by Michael Ring, the junior sports minister, last night.

“The idea was there from about the ’80s, but we got serious about it in 1995, when the fundraising began,” said Ben Lynch, chairman of the Michelstown Leisure Group.