#DublinBay - James Joyce scholars have received some unwelcome news with a new report finding that the Joyce Tower in Sandycove unsuitable for storing a first edition of the author's most famed work Ulysses, among other delicate materials.

According to the Irish Independent, the report commissioned by Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council has identified that the seaside Martello tower in Sandycove - which featured prominently in Ulysses, and is due to reopen shortly following months of renovations - is unsuitable for housing rare papers due to damp conditions.

The news comes as a blow to Joyceans and the county council alike, the latter after investing more than €200,000 in the building to convert it and its present museum into what's expected to be a major tourist attraction.

The Irish Independent has more on the story HERE.

Update 10/4: Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council has since posted an update on the Joyce Tower renovations, claiming that recent news reports were based on incomplete information.

"The reported problem with damp in the tower was identified as an issue by the council in its first discussions with Fáilte Ireland and was also noted in the consultants report," the statements reads.

"Since the museum consultant's visit to the tower last year, Fáilte Ireland has been carrying out work on the conservation of the tower which we believe has addressed many of the structural issues, some of which related to the ingress of water and damp.

"The museum consultant who produced the report had not revisited the Tower following the works and therefore had not taken them into account in his report."

The full DLRCoCo statement can be read HERE.