Broadband Investment Plan Will Put Rural Clare Online

I am delighted with the announcement by Pat Rabbitte of the new National Broadband Plan for Ireland, as Clare will finally have access to high speed broadband, particularly in rural areas. This announcement means that individuals and businesses will have access to a minimum 30 megabytes per second (Mbps), with more than half the population receiving 70Mpbs – 100Mpbs by 2015.
In this day and age, having access to high speed internet is a basic requirement for people in all walks of life, be they school children, college students, professionals and small and big businesses. It will enable the people of Clare to compete on a much wider scale, and give them access to information, products and services right across the world, bringing economic and social benefits across the County.

Public funds will be invested in the Plan to ensure that sparsely populated areas are included and Minister Rabbitte has committed to engaging with commercial investors for financial support so that speeds of up to 100Mbps are made available to as many households as possible in Clare. The Minister has also committed to providing the correct regulatory environment so as to remove any obstacles to private sector investment.

Ireland’s population is more broadly dispersed than that of many other countries so reaching the target will require State investment to encourage the private sector to offer services which would not otherwise make commercial sense.

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Credit to CLDC for their work in rural Clare

Killaloe sports development secures €200k funding.

I felt it was worth highlighting the great work of the Clare Local Development Company. Read my press release here.
Clare Fine Gael Senator Tony Mulcahy has praised the contribution of Clare Local Development Company Ltd (CLDC) to community life in rural parts of the County. Senator Mulcahy was responding to the news that CLDC has allocated funding totalling €200,000 to Ballina/Killaloe Sports & Community Facilities Development Co Ltd for the construction of two natural grass playing pitches and a synthetic pitch at Clarisford, Killaloe.

The works, which were sanctioned this week by the Government, are being carried out under the Village Renewal & Development measure of the EU LEADER Rural Development Programme 2007-2013. According to Senator Mulcahy: “Community projects such as this would not be possible without the support, financial and otherwise, provided by CLDC. The organisation, formerly known as Rural Resource Development, has a proven track record of providing invaluable assistance to community and voluntary groups in securing LEADER funding.”

Senator Mulcahy noted that over €5 million in LEADER funding was available to support and fund a wide variety of projects in Clare in 2012 and 2013. “€1.8m was paid out to a wide range of community and enterprise projects in Clare during 2011 under the current LEADER Programme, bringing to €3m the amount paid out locally since 2009. The actual amount approved in this period was €5.5m. Projects such as the sports development in Killaloe bring a new lease of life to rural parts of the county and also present a central social outlet for the people of the communities concerned.” Senator Mulcahy congratulated the members of Ballina/Killaloe Sports & Community Facilities Development Co Ltd for their efforts to develop the playing pitches and associated facilities at Clarisford.

“As a former Mayor of Clare and Shannon I have witnessed at first hand the differences that such facilities can make in a local community,” he explained. “I wish to congratulate the community group for making a substantial private investment in this development. Were it not for the commitment of the Project team, the additional funding allocation from CLDC would not have been secured. I have no doubt that the community facilities, costing almost €400,000 in total, will help to further improve the quality of life for members of the local community,” conclude Senator Mulcahy.

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