Labour Party TD Aodhán Ó Ríordáin has called on the Minister for the Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht to proactively engage with Dublin City Council and NAMA with the aim of finding a new, more appropriate and iconic site for the Dublin City Library.

The Dublin North Central Deputy believes that given our remarkable literary heritage the City Library deserves state of the art surroundings which would proudly showcase our strong literary culture.

He said: "I would greatly welcome a new site for the Dublin City Library. The current location of the Library in the Ilac Centre is clearly inappropriate given Dublin's rich literary heritage and also given our new status as a UNESCO City of Literature. The fact that the city of Joyce, Yeates, Beckett, Stoker and Wilde does not have an iconic site for a City Library is a matter of considerable shame for those who value this heritage so dearly.

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"It is also a matter of deep regret that the previously identified Ambassador site on Parnell Square wasn't considered suitable as a long-term home for the Library when inspected thoroughly by City Council officials.

"I have discussed this matter with the Minister for the Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht in the past and conveyed my opinion that the Bank of Ireland site on College Green would be an ideal location for Dublin City Library. However it is now time for the Minister's department to engage proactively with Dublin City Council and NAMA on this issue in order to find a permanent home for a City Library that would befit Dublin's world-renowned literary reputation."

(CD/GK)