Three New Leisure Centres To Open In Belfast

A number of senior appointments have been made as preparations continue for the opening of three new council funded leisure centres in Belfast.

The Brook, Andersonstown and Lisnasharragh Leisure Centres will open under the 'Better' brand name early next year, expanding the provision of social enterprise GLL across the city.

The new facilities come as part of Belfast City Council's £105 million Leisure Transformation Programme, with a general manager appointed to each of the centres this week.

Councillor Kate Nicholl, Deputy Chair of Belfast City Council's Strategic Policy and Resources Committee, said the appointments bring the project a step closer to launching.

She commented: "Our aim is to provide innovative, state-of-the-art facilities across Belfast at affordable prices for all of our citizens. Having a top-class, professional team in place to run them will be central to their success.

"The three centres at Lisnasharragh, Brook and Andersonstown will have a big impact on the city and its neighbourhoods. They will significantly improve our leisure offering, supporting many of our ambitions outlined in the Belfast Agenda, the community plan for the city."

Former General Manager at Ballysillan Leisure Centre, Peter McMonagle has been appointed as General Manager at Lisnasharragh after eight years with the company.

Meanwhile, Ciaran Boyd has been appointed as General Manager at Brook Leisure Centre. Ciaran joined GLL in 2014, following ten years of service at Belfast City Council. Since joining GLL he has worked across the city and been promoted three times during this period, most recently working as Service Manager at Falls Leisure Centre.

At the Andersonstown facility, Adrian Walker has been appointed as General Manager. Adrian began working with Belfast City Council twelve years ago, before moving with the leisure centres to GLL management. He was appointed the General Manager of Olympia Leisure Centre when it reopened in 2017 following its development as part of Phase 1 of the Leisure Transformation Programme. 

Regional Director of GLL in Northern Ireland, Gareth Kirk said the new centres and managers represent an advancement in their efforts to inspire the people of Belfast to get active.

"GLL is hugely committed to its workforce and our people are our greatest asset," he said.

"I am particularly pleased and excited that the three new general managers have all been with us on this journey and are all internal promotions.

"Working in partnership with Belfast City Council, and along with the key objective of the Leisure Transformation Programme, the aim is to get more people in the city more active, more often, and for them to want to use their local leisure centre. Having the best team in place will help make that aim a reality."



(JG/CM)