Path forward for renovating former Inchicore library and opening it up for community use

Work to reopen the long-vacant Inchicore library building on Emmet Road has moved forward, Sinn Féin Councillor Máire Devine said last week.

The plan now is for Dublin City Council to renovate the building and put in a lift – and without having to go through its internal planning process again, Devine said.

“We’re just going to wait now for a schedule of works to be provided,” said Devine, in a social media post last week after a meeting of the Inchicore Library Advisory Group, which involves locals and councillors.

There won’t be a ramp to enter the building, which is at the top of more than a dozen steps that lead up from Emmet Road, says Michael O’Flanagan, secretary of the Inchicore Library Advisory Group.

“They’re going to put in a lift, as we suggested,” said O’Flanagan.

A spokesperson for Dublin City Council hasn’t responded to a query sent on Monday, asking what is now planned for the library.

O’Flanagan highlighted a proposal from the Dublin 8 Community Education Centre, which suggests it could turn the former library building into an educational facility from Monday to Friday, and turn the building over to community groups in the evenings and weekends.

Nothing has been decided on whether this proposal will go ahead, Devine said on Friday. “It’s now just working out the demands in the area, and the demand of groups, and how we divvy up the time on an equitable basis.”

Pathway to reopening

In January 2020, councillors voted through a proposal to refurbish the building, add an extension, and improve accessibility with a new access ramp and a platform lift.

But then the pandemic hit Ireland, and the library closed in March 2020 due to Covid-19-related restrictions, a council spokesperson says.

Covid delayed the refurbishment project – and when restrictions were lifted the chosen contractor said they couldn’t stand over the quoted prices for the work.

Meanwhile, the council set up a temporary library at Richmond Barracks – and got planning permission for a new permanent library as part of its major development down the road at St Michael’s Estate.

Council officials said in 2022 that they were looking into possible new uses for the old former library building, said O’Flanagan.

But as the building has sat empty, it has deteriorated.

In December 2022, pipes in the building burst and the ceiling fell in. An engineers’ report in 2023 listed 39 “critical issues” that had to be addressed in the now badly damaged building.

An April report from officials to the South Central Area Committee said architects were reviewing the existing plans to decide on how they could deliver universal access efficiently, while maintaining its historic character.

They were planning to remain within the scope of the council’s Part 8 planning consent, the report said. “But also re-engaging with the previous design team to keep the project costs affordable.”

Devine says the approach now being taken by the council means it can do works without going through the planning process again.

Instead of building a ramp at the front of the building, they will be going with a lift at the side, she says. “We haven’t figured out that one completely. But that’s it. The ramp is gone.”

All of this falls within the present planning permission, she says.

The next step is to get a schedule of work from the council, she says. “I want a timing on it, so I’ve asked them for that instead of flip flopping, because look what happened to our iconic buildings. They all fell into disrepair.”

New proposals

In April, the council said that it was carrying out a feasibility study, looking at the future of the library, as well as an old gate lodge and the Goldenbridge Integrated Service Complex community centre in Emmet Crescent.

The council has not yet shared the findings from this study.

But Devine said she sees the need “to make sure the building is accessible to everyone in the community”.

O’Flanagan, secretary of the advisory group, says he knows of more than 10 groups that want to be able to use it. “That’s at various different times, and some of them want to put on an exhibition for a week.”

Devine says that there are ongoing discussions around who will run the building.

“There’s competition between arts, education, all sorts of stuff, so in our October committee meeting, I’m going to ask for an interlocutor to sit down with all the groups to decide how this is going to work,” she said.

One proposal sent to Dublin City Council is to reopen the library as an educational facility run by the Dublin 8 Community Education Centre CLG.

The D8CEC, in an application to the council, put forward the idea that they would operate within the building from 9am to 5pm on Monday to Friday, with the large single-room library split into two separate rooms.

After 5pm, and on weekends, their proposal says it would offer the rooms at community rates to local organisations, committees and clubs, as well as accommodating activities like dance, yoga, pilates and art exhibitions.

A spokesperson for D8CEC didn’t respond to a request to talk about the idea.

Devine says she thinks it is important to work out what the current demand is in the area and to make sure access is distributed fairly. “That’s my driving point, because that area is rich in heritage and people need the space to explore it.”

Everything remains in the mix, she says. “But we need an interlocutor to be able to decide the whole thing on an impartial basis.”

CORRECTION: This article was updated on 19 September 2024 to reflect that the old Inchicore library was closed in March 2020, due to Covid-related restrictions, and not in late 2019 as we had originally written. Apologies for the error.