VOLUNTEERS HAVE made it possible to reopen the Joyce tower and museum in Sandycove, Co Dublin. The reopening coincides with National Heritage Week, which runs until Saturday.
Due to staffing pressures, the tower was closed temporarily while Fáilte Ireland held discussions with Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown Council with a view to the council taking over its permanent operation next year.
However, with the assistance of local volunteers, the tower is to open from 10am to 6pm seven days a week until the end of next month.
More than 100 people have offered to volunteer, 60 of whom have participated in a half-day induction course supervised by Robert Nicholson, curator of the tower.
Minister for Tourism Leo Varadkar said he was delighted.
“This is an important attraction for Dún Laoghaire and an important landmark for Dubliners. I’d like to congratulate the volunteers for their efforts in reaching this breakthrough.”
Fáilte Ireland’s head of visitor engagement, Paul Hayden, said volunteers’ willingness to give their time to support the reopening spoke volumes about their civic pride and the value they placed on our literary legacy.
Friends of the Joyce Tower Society has been established to assist in running the tower and to promote the work of James Joyce.