Bookstore opened this morning

With almost 3,000 books in stock and more on the way, the new bookstore established by Dawn Behan and Aidan Cunnane opened its doors for business this morning at 9am, writes Brian Byrne.

Woodbine Books is beside Brennans Hardware in the former Petits Pets shop. Though there's still a lot to do, the owners decided to get it up and running rather than 'waiting until it was perfect'.

"We'd never get it open if we waited for that," says Dawn, who decided to set up the business in her home town after working 17 years in IT in Dublin. Aidan has taken a year off his own work in the same area to help get the new venture off the ground.

In addition to shelves of books, there will be armchairs and tables where customers can browse in comfort, and at a later stage there will be coffee and goodies available.

The Diary offers the pair best wishes on a brave enterprise which shows that Kindles and all the other digital competitors haven't killed off a love of real books.

Do drop in if you're passing. Apart from what's on their shelves, Dawn and Aidan are a good story in themselves, and we'll be writing that one up soon.