State must back ‘world-class’ Cork city library, say councillors

Progress has been made on the long-awaited development of a new city library, after Cork City Council submitted an examination of proposals, including a new build and the reuse of existing buildings, to Government.

In 2021, Cork City Council announced that funding of €46.05m had been allocated from the Ireland 2040 urban regeneration and development fund for the regeneration of the Grand Parade Quarter.

While this included the development of a new 7,700sq m city library, there has been increasing criticism regarding the slow progress on the project.

Speaking at last Monday’s council meeting, assistant chief executive Brian Geaney said that the authority had submitted a preliminary business case to the Department of Housing, Local Government, and Heritage for the delivery of a “world-class library” for Cork city.

“It involved a robust examination of a number of options, including the use or reuse of existing buildings, and new-build options, to deliver a new flagship city library in the Grand Parade area in a timely and cost-effective manner,” said Mr Geaney.

“The city council awaits a decision on the PBC and looks forward to moving to the next stage in the process. A briefing of members will take place at the appropriate juncture.”

Social Democrats councillor Niamh O’Connor told The Echo she was delighted to see progress being made on the issue.

“This is something that was promised five years ago, and was needed decades before that.

“It’s great to see the council being ambitious and acknowledging that this library should be ‘world class’.

“It’s my opinion, and the opinion of people I have spoken with who are working in this area, that a world-class library is only deliverable in a purpose-built building,” said Ms O’Connor.

“I think the ambition to deliver a state-of-the-art purpose-built library exists within the city council, but that ambition needs to be backed now with funding from the Government.

“It would be disappointing to be left with a situation where we are shoehorning the library into an existing building because we can’t get enough money from Government to deliver what the city really deserves.”

Independent councillor Kieran McCarthy said that the whole process needed to move faster.

“We have been speaking about a new city library for years,” he said.

“I am of the view that the city council needs to advance its planning a lot more.

“Funding structures are in place, and I feel if we delay by further years, the funding will go somewhere else.

“There is an opportunity not to be missed to create a state-of-the-art library with the values of building communities, which are embedded in the fab programme of Cork City Libraries.

“I await the response from the Department of Local Government on the preliminary business case, but I am the view we should be way past the business case at this point and onto the design and build stages.”