The proposed development comprises a new city library and a range of cultural facilities.
Dublin City Council has released information about a potential “cultural quarter” that would be located in Parnell Square.
The proposed development includes the redevelopment of the Georgian houses at No 20 to No 28 Parnell Square West, and a new public plaza created in front of the City Library buildings and Dublin City Gallery, The Hugh Lane.
It also comprises a new city library and a range of cultural facilities, including a music centre, a design space, an innovation hub, a business library, a 200-seater conference space, education centre, a café and an exhibition area.
Plans were approved for the cultural quarter by An Bord Pleanála in May of this year.
The project has been undertaken to date by the Parnell Square Foundation, a charitable trust set up to raise funds and finance the project with the support of Dublin City Council and property company Kennedy Wilson.
The agreed funding model saw a minimum of 55% of the project to be funded by private philanthropy via the Foundation with Dublin City Council funding a maximum of 45% of the project cost.
To date €4.8 million has been provided as seed funding by Kennedy Wilson and a further €1.7 million by Dublin City Council.
Dublin City Council also said that they are fully committed to delivering the full Parnell Square Cultural Quarter project.
However, the City Council has now been advised, following work undertaken by a consultant engaged by the Foundation, that the required private fundraising could take over three years and that there is no guarantee it will be successful.
The foundation’s consultant identified a number of obstacles to a successful private fundraising campaign for the project including the following:
- The scale of funding required for the project relative to the sums raised previously for cultural projects in Ireland from national and international donors
- The fact that the Foundation has no previous donor base to act as project champions
- The intense competition for philanthropic funding from high profile national cultural projects based in Dublin, which have already secured significant State funding
- And the fact that libraries have a lower affinity score with private donors than the arts generally.
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