David Gardiner, Workers’ Party representative in Palmerstown-Fonthill, has called on South Dublin County Council to deliver a fully equipped and full-time library for Palmerstown.

“The Workers’ Party has been gathering signatures to petition for a full-time library in Palmerstown around the area for a few months now, and it seems clear to me that among residents, there’s a real appetite for it.” Gardiner said.

“Decades ago, Palmerstown was second on a libraries priority list, and yet the area has still not got one. Generations have grown up without the resources that a library would bring to their disposal. It’s long overdue that we organise our community in fighting for the council to invest in the next generation of people living in Palmerstown.”

Gardiner continued:
“Having a fully-equipped and full-time library in the area would make education a lot more accessible, particularly for young people. One of the reasons we decided to campaign on this issue is because young people told us of how it matters to them. It would mean they have somewhere local to study after school, somewhere they could go to educate themselves without having to worry about the cost to them and their parents, and all of this right on their doorstep.

“Many of these reasons also apply to the rest of us as well as young people. There’s absolutely no reason why we shouldn’t have a library in Palmerstown.”

He concluded:
“The work that is carried out currently by the staff in the Palmerstown Digital Library Hub is definitely great, but the resources simply aren’t there at the moment for it to be used regularly by the community at large. Make no mistake, this is no fault of the staff working there, but the fault of the council for refusing to invest in what would prove an invaluable asset to our community.”