Contractor secured for new Fivemiletown library

WORK on a new £1.5 million library in Fivemiletown is expected to begin later this summer, with the new facility due to be finished by the same time next year, with contractors for the build appointed last month.

The library in the town has been closed now for some time, leaving the community having to travel to Enniskillen, Lisnaskea and Fintona to access library services.

In a letter to Fermanagh and Omagh Council, chief executive of Libraries NI, Jim O’Hagan, said he was “pleased to report that the procurement of a replacement building contractor has been successfully completed.”

Mr O’Hagan said the contract had been awarded to Russell Brothers Builders Ltd on June 7, and the Department for Communities, which funds Libraries NI, had allocated capital funds to enable construction to progress this year.

“My officials have had an initial meeting with the contractor and I understand that work is planned to commence late summer with a 12 months construction period,” he continued.

“We are pleased that the initial setbacks with this project appear to have now been overcome and I look forward to seeing good progress with construction of the new library over the coming months.”

The business case to redevelop the Fivemiletown Library was approved by the Department for Communities in 2021, and it had been expected work would begin on the new build last Autumn.

Speaking upon a visit to the old library in June 2021, then Minister for Communities Deirdre Hargey said, “Our public libraries and the services they provide are highly valued by the communities they serve, and that is particularly the case for those libraries that serve our rural communities.

“It has been evident for some time now that Fivemiletown Library is in need of redevelopment.”