Louth County Council announce purchase of new library and community space for Dunleer

Louth County Council say they have recently purchased the former Bank of Ireland building in Dunleer for the provision of a new Council library and community space.  

The purchase was funded under the Building Acquisition Measure of the Town and Village Renewal Scheme.   

The Council say they are  committed to the development of its library service, evidenced by recent, considerable investments to ensure the library service meets the strategic objectives as per the Louth Library Service Development Programme 2020-2025, a key focus of which is:

"Improving access, use and visibility of the public library and establishing it as the go-to place for a range of sustainable, integrated public services."

Louth County Council say they recognise the need to develop the public library service in Dunleer to meet the needs of the growing community and that the acquisition of this building on the main street allows for the placing of a public facility in the heart of the community. 

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This works in tandem with the Dunleer Masterplan, which is currently being developed under the Town Centre First Policy, which promotes re-using existing town assets, tackling vacancy and dereliction, breathing new life into Dunleer town centre. 

A new and improved library space  will offer better access to digital  hardware and software and support increased community engagement with more space and opportunities for school visits, story time, talks, book clubs and the many other services offered by Louth Library Service, the Council say.

Louth Library Service has recently been awarded Library of Sanctuary status and this new community space and say they will contribute to libraries continuing to strengthen and support communities by providing dynamic, inclusive and responsive library services.

Amanda Branigan, Acting County Librarian added that:

“A responsive library can support rural communities to address the current challenges faced, provide supports for economic recovery, and aid the revitalisation and regeneration of  towns and villages to improve community development and quality of life.”

Local Fine Gael TD, Fergus O’Dowd, has warmly welcomed the news.

O’Dowd said:

“I’m absolutely delighted we now have confirmation that the Dunleer library will soon be moving to a larger and more appropriate building which will allow the service to expand.

“This is a matter I have been raising with both the local authority and in the Dail over recent months as the service has clearly outgrown its current premises.

“The council confirmed to me in August that they were exploring options to improve on the delivery of the Dunleer Library Service as they were experiencing growth in both membership and usage of the Dunleer facility.

O’Dowd added:

“The welcome news was delivered this morning by my colleague the Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys, as part of the Building Acquisition Measure (BAM) of the Town and Village Renewal Scheme.

“Under the initiative, local authorities were asked by the department to engage with the local community to identify suitable vacant or derelict properties that could be taken into public ownership and converted for community use.

“This is great news for the Dunleer community and I can’t wait to see the expansion of services along with a new community space that will greatly benefit the area into the future.”