€60m development of Parnell Square to begin Dublin regeneration

Plans for the redevelopment of Dublin's Parnell Square and the provision of a cultural quarter there including a new city library and cultural centre have been unveiled.

The proposed development has been termed possibly "the most important cultural development in Dublin for 100 years," by City Architect Ali Grehan.

Consultation on the €60 million scheme is now invited by Dublin City Council, the Office of Public Works and Kennedy Wilson, a US real estate investment company, which has its main European office in Dublin.

Key to the plans are the relocation of the city library to a new development incorporated into Colaiste Mhuire and the upgrading of other notable Georgian buildings on the north side of the square to make what its advocates call an “intercultural district”.

Included in the plans are a civic plaza and a largely pedestrianised section of Parnell Square linking the library and existing Hugh Lane gallery and Writers’ Museum more closely with the Garden of Remembrance.

The plans were publicised in Dublin yesterday by Lord Mayor Naoise Ó Muirí along with City manager John Tierney and City Librarian Margaret Hayes. Joining them was Peter Collins from Kennedy Wilson, which is providing the € 2.5 million seed capital on a philanthropic basis.

The existing city library at the nearby Ilac centre, opened in 1986, is deemed to be used well beyond its capacity and is not of a stature to match the needs of Dublin or its role as a Unesco City of Literature.

The new library, a striking circular design, will act as a focal point for greater civic involvement in literature and the arts generally. It will incorporate an innovation and enterprise hub, a story house, music centre and a digital library.

The new-look Parnell Square will consolidate what planners term the city's Civic Spine which will run eventually from Dublin Institute of Technology at Grangegorman on the north side, through the square and along O'Connell Street towards College Green, Christchurch and, eventually, to the Irish Museum of Modern Art at Kilmainham.

It is hoped that greater reaches of central Dublin will be regenerated by investment in this Civic Spine and that further improvements will be kick-started along its course.

Mr Collins confirmed Kennedy Wilson’s optimism for Ireland’s economic future. “We are firmly of the belief that the Irish economy will recover over the medium term and we believe that Dublin, as the capital city, will be the driver and the beneficiary of that recovery. To that end we have invested over €200 million in commercial and residential projects.”

He pointed to an historical parallel in that the Rotunda Hospital, also on Parnell Square, was initially funded by private donations while the Hugh Lane Gallery owed much to the private generosity of Sir Hugh Lane.

As city librarian, Ms Hayes said the new library would be predicated on the notion that it would act as a “cultural broker where other entities come in” such as theatres, innovation centres and other facilities.

“This will be an investment in the people,” she said.

Consultation is now open and the scheme’s design team hopes the redeveloped square will be opened by Christmas 2017.