A chara, - Your correspondent Catherine Brangan (November 18th) says that the people of Lucan have been waiting for a public library for 30 years. They are not alone. Dublin Corporation has plans for a new library in Cabra. Fingal Council hopes to open a library at the Blanchardstown shopping centre to cater for the huge population of west Dublin. Presumably other local authorities around the State have similar plans.
What is delaying these developments is the paltry budget which the Department of the Environment allocates annually to capital investment in public library building.
A modern public library is many things: a centre for cultural and arts activity; a centre for lifelong learning and literacy; a gateway to the Internet; and so much more.
What better way to mark the new millennium than to greatly increases the Department's capital budget for new library building so that these projects mentioned above and others like them can become a reality? - Is mise,
St Philomena's Road, Dublin 11.