It’s official. Following the abolition of Lismore Town Council and the amalgamation of Waterford City and County Councils, the council offices in Lismore are to close and so too is the library headquarters.

The latter is being moved to Waterford city while no decision has been made as yet as to the future use of the council building.

Town manager Paul Daly told the monthly meeting of Lismore Town Council on Monday night that a report on the amalgamation was presented to Environment and Local Government Minister Phil Hogan and that he has endorsed it.

“The current position is that the new Lismore-Dungarvan area office won’t be here,” he told members. Having accepted it as an inevitability some months ago, there was a muted response from members to the news.

Asked if Blackwater Community School had been contacted about using the building, the town manager said it had but that it wasn’t the only purpose for which it could be used. The disposal of the building is an executive function of the county council, he told members.

All staff are being kept on, there will be no compulsory redundancies, he advised. They’ll be redeployed elsewhere.

“I suspect staff won’t know where they’re going until December/January,” he said. Cllr Jimmy O’Gorman pointed out that the closure of the council offices would leave some 62 to 64 personnel surplus to requirements. The town manager said the whole merger process involves meshing various systems and teams will be needed to do that. “That’s where the excess staff will come in,” he explained.

Pointing out that the relevant legislation to reform local Government hasn’t yet been passed by the Oireachtas, Cllr O’Gorman commented. “Yet we are here putting plans in place.”