Concerns over library to house Mary Robinson’s papers

Concerns have been raised about the potential €8.5m cost of building a new presidential library in the hometown of a former holder of the office, Mary Robinson.

The Mary Robinson Centre, planned for Ballina, would be the home for her papers rather than in existing archive departments in universities — traditionally the papers have been donated to University College Dublin or Trinity College Dublin.

Last night, the RTÉ Prime Time programme reported that Ms Robinson had applied for tax relief for making the donation. According to Prime Time, that tax relief could be worth in the region of €2m.