Plans advance but funding gap remains for new flagship Tipperary library
Plans for a state-of-the-art new library in Clonmel have progressed a step further, although a significant funding shortfall remains.
Plans for the new library for Clonmel were officially unveiled last summer, and will include a digital room, maker-space, exhibition and performance space, gallery, lecture room, sensory space, a podcasting and creative studio, along with dedicated study spaces.
The library will be built over three floors on a site next to the county council offices and Clonmel Swimming Pool.
The current library has served Clonmel and surrounding areas for more than 40 years, but is no longer fit for purpose as modern libraries have evolved into multi-functional community spaces.
The new library will be a flagship library for county Tipperary, and will replace the existing library building, which a previous Clonmel Borough District meeting heard was a busy local amenity.
The existing Clonmel Library has over 100,000 visits a year, with Fianna Fáil councillor Siobhán Ambrose saying that the library is a “victim of its own success”.
At the February meeting of the Clonmel Borough District, a member of the Tipperary County Council’s library service told councillors that the project had moved on a step since councillors were last briefed on it.
Paul Devane, the executive librarian in Clonmel said the design team had been working on the plans, which should be ready to go to Part 8 planning approval shortly.
"The design team has been working on the Part 8 planning application for the project, and in tandem with that, the library service submitted a stage two plan for the project to the library unit of the Department of Rural and Community Development,” Mr Devane said.
"In the last few days, the department wrote to the council to confirm that stage two planning has been approved. This is an important milestone, and the design team will now submit a Part 8 planning application. They couldn’t do this until stage two was approved.
"However, as you are aware, there is a significant funding gap between the grant received and the project costs for the new library. We are working to address this gap, but it is a significant gap,” Mr Devane said.
At a previous meeting of the Clonmel Borough District, councillors were told that although €3million in funding had been allocated to the project by the department, this would not be enough and further funding would be needed to ensure the project proceeds as planned.