Talks are “ongoing” within Dublin City Council about works required for the old Inchicore Library building in Dublin 8 that has been empty for more than five years.
It is expected the building on Emmet Road will not come back into operation again until early 2027, with no decision yet made as to what it will be used for.
Since its closure, a temporary library has been operating out of Richmond Barracks with a permanent library included in plans for the regeneration of the former St Michael’s Estate.
Labour councillor Darragh Moriarty said it was taking the council “far too long to come to a decision” regarding the future use of the building.
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The building was shut in early 2020 for refurbishment works, which were halted during Covid-19 restrictions.
When restrictions were lifted, the preferred contractor said they could no longer stand over the costs quoted for the work due to inflation.
In December 2022, pipes burst in the building and the ceiling fell in.
Constructed in 1937, it was one of four similar libraries built by Dublin Corporation between 1935 and 1940 in the suburbs of Phibsborough, Ringsend, Drumcondra and Inchicore.
Dublin city councillors were told in May that the council remained “fully committed” to the refurbishment of the building.
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“The plan to have an anchor tenant in place to maintain and manage the building whilst facilitating community groups outside of normal business hours is still at the forefront of the engagement process with local community groups and elected members in the area,” it said.
“The current proposed timeline for the project is that the procurement of the design team, preparation of detailed drawings and completion of the tender process is 10 months from June 2025 to March 2026.
“After this period of time it is anticipated that the contractor will take eight months to complete the refurbishment from April 2026 until December 2026.”
Cllr Moriarty said it was “shambolic” that the building had been empty since 2020.
“You have this empty, gorgeous art deco building with no real end use in mind, and the building is decaying all the time.
“There’s a real sense of fatigue with consultations and asking the community what they want, they’re just like: ‘Do something’.
“The people of Inchicore and Kilmainham have a huge connection to that space. They remember going down to the library as a child, people in their 60s, 70s, and 80s.
“People are really frustrated to not see it bustling and see some activity in there. It is sad because it’s been locked up for five years and we’re not really going to have it refurbished for 15 or 16 months if all timelines go to plan.”
Cllr Moriarty added there was an educational organisation looking into using the building once renovated to operate adult day and evening classes, with plans for community groups to be able to avail of the space also.
“That’s something we’ve been keen to get out of this - that it does become a multi-use space,” he said.
“The council have been telling us in order for it to be viable in terms of costs and everything, it needs an anchor tenant that’s getting permanent use out of it and then auxiliary uses tagged onto it as well. That educational use, to the best of my knowledge, hasn’t progressed.”
Dublin City Council said this week that internal discussions were ongoing in relation to the works required.
