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Among the locations the Queen will visit during her tour of the Irish Republic will be the Dublin's Garden of Remembrance
Among the various locations the Queen will visit during her historic tour of the Irish Republic this month will be the Garden of Remembrance just north of Dublin's O'Connell Street. Amid the pomp and ceremony, and the inevitable tight security, she might care to glance to the right of the memorial dedicated to Irish republicanism's fallen. Directly overlooking the gardens is a four-storey Georgian building that has become a powerhouse of literary creativity. Next door to the Dublin Writers Museum, which commemorates the dead scribes of the country's literary pantheon, is the Irish Writers' Centre, a place that concerns itself with encouraging the living. Founded in 1991 and staffed entirely by volunteers, it stages readings by Nobel laureates such as Seamus Heaney and workshops for would-be poets and novelists. Six days out of seven its doors remain open to readers and writers who are offered free tea, coffee and Wi-Fi as well as a vast range of books. The centre just survived Ireland's recent bouts of brutal spending cuts – apposite given that Dublin recently (and rather belatedly) became a Unesco City of Literature. It also embodies that sense of voluntary public service which long preceded David Cameron's "big society". The Irish Writers' Centre should now become a must-stop part of any culture tour around Dublin. Perhaps Queen Elizabeth could start the tourist trend with a quick nip over to 19 Parnell Square to see a real live literary hothouse in action.
