Cork City Council has closed the city’s main library on Grand Parade due to what it describes as “planned demonstrations” there this afternoon.
Protesters against the availability of LGBTQ+ material are outside the library, while a demonstration “against the right wing” is taking place nearby.
Gardaí are monitoring both protests. No incidents have been reported.
Cork City Council said in a statement that it had decided to close the library from 12.30pm in light of the planned demonstrations.
“This decision is taken in the interests of the safety and well-being of the public and library staff,” the council said.
Staff at the Grand Parade library have been filmed by people protesting about the availability of LGBTQ+ material there.
They have also been subjected to abuse on social media.
A large banner covering the entrance to the library this afternoon reads: “There are only genders: male and female.”
Earlier this month, more than 500 people marched from the library on the Grand Parade to Cork City Hall in support of library staff who said they were being harassed and intimidated in their work.
The march was organised by the Fórsa trade union, which called on management of Cork City Council to protect library workers.
Elsewhere, in Tralee, a garda investigation is continuing into an incident during which an event organised as part of the Pride festival in Kerry was disrupted by five people who entered the library and began shouting.
Source: Raidió Teilifís Éireann
