Site identified for Listowel literary centre

January 1996

PLANS to open a £l.5m North Kerry Literary Centre in Listowel received a welcome boost this week with the news that a site for the centre has been identified and is about to be purchased.

A special task force set up to spearhead the project announced, that a suitable site has been identified at The Square, Listowel, close to Listowel Castle.

‘It was revealed on Tuesday night, at a meeting of Listowel Town Council, that the site is owned by former Fine Gael TD Gerard Lynch from Listowel.

Task Force PRO Ned O’Sullivan would not reveal how much the site cost but The Kerryman understands that the property would sell for about £205,000.

“Negotiations are at an_. advanced stage for the purchase of a site for the proposed literary and cultural centre at The Square. The site is close to Listowel Castle and would be an ideal location,” he said.

In order to finance the project, the task force is to present a submission to the Department of Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht in the hope of securing substantial grant aid.

Already a substantial sum of money has been raised towards the project, including the proceeds of a concert held at the National Concert Hall, run by the Kerry Association in Dublin, which raised over £40,000.

Further fund-raising activities are also planned among the Irish communities in Britain and the US for later in the year. Junior Minister Jimmy Deenihan is co-ordinating these events.

“We are fortunate to have the support of Minister of State, Jimmy Deenihan who has been involved in this project since the beginning and also An Tanaiste Dick Spring. Both are very interested in seeing these plans come to fruition and we are grateful for their support, said Cllr O’Sullivan.

“Writers’ Week has really grown in recent years and has put Listowel on the tourist destination map. So we decided to see if we could extend that activity by opening a tourist facility centered around North Kerry’s great writing traditions “he said.