The swimming pool attached to Ireland’s Embassy to the Vatican almost caused a diplomatic incident.
The 17th century mansion on Gianicolo Hill overlooking Rome had a swimming pool attached for those long hot Italian summer days.
The Department of Foreign Affairs approved work on the swimming pool in November 1992 and it began in January 1993 with a view to being completed in April of that year.
There were difficulties from the start with corroded pipes and these prompted a sharp letter from Embassy official Eamon Mac Aodha to an Italian architectural firm.
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He described the technical issues with the pool’s filtration system as a “debacle” which needed to be resolved as the pool was in operation only three weeks out of four.
He reminded the firm that the Embassy had spent 51.5 million Italian Lira (€26,600) on the upgrade and a further €1,750 on architect’s fees.
“We are now left with a system which appears to be inoperable for one out of every four weeks,” he said. “If it turns out that this is true, legal action against the company cannot be ruled out.
“What is the point in having an automatic filtration system if it has to be constantly assisted by manual operation? Again there was no warning that this might turn out to be the case.”
The last correspondence in the file is from December 1994 from Mr Mac Aodha to the Italian architectural firm saying the ambassador’s wife, Mrs Ó Broin, was keen to obtain “compensation” from a second firm for the work done.
“She suggests that a firm but polite note might be sent asking them to consider their position and indicating a summary of the costs, together with an intimation of what the photographs and her note imply about the firm,” the letter read.