Site secured for proposed new library in Mahon

Progress has been made on ambitions to develop a library in Mahon with a site secured for the proposed development.

The facility is earmarked for development on the campus of Nagle Community College, chairman of the college’s board of management, Fianna Fáil councillor Terry Shannon, told The Echo.

“The church is on one corner so the library now will be opposite it on the other corner within the parameters of Nagle Community College.

“A memorandum of understanding between the ETB [Cork Education and Training Board] and city council was signed… so basically what that means is that the land in question, which is the car park essentially, has been transferred into ownership of Cork City Council,” he said.

“It’ll be a library, it’ll be a youth resource centre and a public space then like a lot of libraries where you could have meetings and other types of things… we’re looking at a cost of about €13m.” 

Such as facility, he said, has been “spoken of for a long, long time”, adding that the new library would be a welcome amenity in the locality as well as a “great boost” for the school.

Cork City Council, Mr Shannon said, is in the process of applying for funding to progress the project.

“As part of the planning there will be a notice to the public for them to get involved and I’d encourage people to do that,” he continued.

The South East ward councillor said the proposed facility could take some time before it is developed but that he hoped it could be achieved within the term of the existing council.

“Being realistic with the way things work, it won’t be breaking ground in the immediate future, but my ambition is that it will be built and operational within the lifetime of this council,” Mr Shannon said.

“I want to thank members of the ETB and Cork City Council who have been working on this, beavering away quietly, and I’ve been interacting with them then as chairman.” 

A spokesperson for Cork City Council said:

“Cork City Council and Cork Educational and Training Board have signed a memorandum of understanding that agrees a site for the future development of a public library and youth facility, in a shared building on the grounds of Nagle Community College.

“No specific design or costs can be defined at this point though a building of the size of 2,000 m2 is anticipated.

“The development is subject to a four-stage approval process by the Libraries Development Unit of the DRCD.

“Following the signing of the MOU the next step is to submit the Stage 1 application in this process.”