Sport Ireland National Aquatic Centre — Attraction in Fingal

I took my 11 year old niece and her friend here on 02/07/2018 around 11 am so they could go to Aquazone and I could have a swim. Although I'm from Clonsilla I've never visited here before and I was over for a few days(I currently live in the UK)so keeping my exercise going is important.

We got there and I was asked to fill in a "Parental Consent Form" The reason given was that I was not attending Aquazone as well. This was fine as both the kids are capable swimmers. For the in case of emergency(ICE)contact details I gave my parents contact number and my dads name.

The receptionist said that I need to give my details as I'm the attending adult. Oddly enough(to her anyway and probably the management team at the NAC, if one exists)I questioned this logic as since I will be swimming who will they call? The receptionist insisted I give my details and proceeded to ask what facilities we wanted to use.

I get that the receptionists don't set the rules however it's ridiculous that the NAC does not seem to recognise how the ICE system works. That means if the kids or I were to have an accident they would not have a clue who I was to reach me or be able to tell my parents since I can't be identified. The form is not related to the receipt and is not even entered onto the computer system.

They offered to get a manager and no one turned up when called for.

You(The management at the NAC)need to take a long hard look at your safety processes and set this form up so it is related to the purchase of the use of facilities for the persons entering and that external ICE details are recorded so as to ensure you can reach someone else. You then need to retrain your staff to use that system and also train them on how to deal with queries including recording and reporting anything that may be a complaint or serious concern regarding health and safety instead of just dismissing it and asking what the customer would like to purchase.

The facility itself needs updating as it dilapidated. The shower area had green mold on the floor so clearly they don't clean these regularly or properly. Westpoint and Coolmine are cleaner than this place. The pool walls are also in dire need of a good scrub or being tiled again.

Pricing is expensive too so clearly the money taken in by the NAC is not being spent on maintaining the facility adequately.

Overall I'm very disappointed in the NAC as if this is the standard locals are offered I can't begin to imagine what international visitors must think when they get there and see that this is the best Ireland has to offer. If you're a visitor from overseas and are not happy I'd recommend either Westpoint just back down the road at the Blanchardstown Centre as this is a lot better and also Westwood in Clontarf(This has a permanent fifty metre pool and gym too)plus a months membership at either is cheaper than the NAC for the day. True that neither has a "waterpark" but that wouldn't put me off paying the fee...

Duty Manager out of her depth: We were a party of two adults and six children arriving at the Aqua Zone on Saturday 10th August. It was my son's birthday party. I had booked two family tickets online for €100 but had not received them. I rang beforehand about this and was sent a ticket by email but it turned out to be an invalid ticket. I assumed all this could be sorted out on arrival. However we then got into a very frustrating argument with the duty manager. She kept insisting she could not let us in without valid tickets and we kept explaining that we understood this but we were telling her we had paid for the tickets, we had proof of purchase, and how could be progress the matter, but she kept just repeating her mantra that she could not let us in. She would not look at our proof of purchase and would not offer any suggestion as to what we should do - not even 'Look I'm really sorry about this - could you just pay for tickets now and we'll try to get to the bottom of this while you are in the pool' or 'could you pay for tickets now and then you can contact this person on Monday to get your money back'. She simply refused to engage. Eventually after 15 mins of argument we were allowed to talk to a person in the sales department. He spoke to us kindly, asked us to email him proof of purchase, and then informed the front desk that he was happy for us to be issued tickets. And then of course the duty manager was very relieved that he had resolved the problem for her, thanked him and apologized to us for the misunderstanding. Only that's not what happened. The duty manager demanded payment of €100 in spite of what the sales department had said. So we paid as our son's birthday party was being ruined. So now we have paid €200 for €100 worth of services and we seem to have no option but to pursue the issue...

This is an interesting one. It's a mix of really awesome features with poor ones. The 50m pool is great in terms of the length - it's rare to get this elsewhere. But the chlorination levels aren't great. The locker rooms are pretty good but a little small. The gym is similar - good equipment, but a bit small for the number of members there. The steam room is nice. The showers are decent - they've recently refurbished so extra points there. The interior decor in general is maybe a bit stagnant. I don't think it's changed much since I went there in 2003. The lost and found is terrible. They won't talk to you in person on the phone about lost and found and when I did arrive up for something, the staff member at the desk just dumped two black bags in front of me and told me to have a look. Needless to say my stuff wasn't there. On the other hand, the sales staff are generally pretty nice. One guy in particular is super friendly and helpful. Same with another guy in the shop selling sports equipment. Lovely guy. But then again, the prices of that equipment are fairly steep if you're just looking for a basic pair of togs. Still, ear plugs behind the desk are only a 5er, which is decent. The vending machines are OK but stuff gets stuck there sometimes and the NAC doesn't take any responsibility for it which is annoying. The price of membership is too high in my opinion. The running track and outdoor machines are great though, and they're FREE! Parking is good - there's a huge car park there so always a space even...