Business and community interests in parts of west Connemara are up in arms at their omission from the latest rural broadband initiative.
Most of the area west of Derrynea crossroads was not included in Minister Denis Naughten’s announcement last week – even though this region has been shown in successive Census returns to be the most disadvantaged part of the county.
Mrs Kay McEvilly, owner of the iconic Cashel House Hotel, is among those who have hit out.
“This time fifty years ago, my late husband and I were in the midst of setting up this business. The hotel opened in 1968. Since then it is like rolling a ball uphill as regards getting services in this part of Connemara. Do they want all of us to go into the cities?” she said.
Carna doctor, Michael Casey, said that the disregard for provision of proper services in the area was staggering.
“I have been on that phone week in, week out for years, trying to get the message across that a proper broadband connection is vital. Now we are ignored again. What is this about?” he asked.
The area notably left out of Minister Naughten’s announcement of a fast tracked installation of better broadband services includes Camus, Ros Muc, Cill Chiaráin, Carna, Cashel and Recess. The Lettermore and Lettermullen peninsula are also out of the picture.
These communities – which are mostly Gaeltacht strongholds southwest Connemara – appear in the National Unemployment Blackspots in successive Census returns and have been hard hit by emigration and depopulation.
Kay McEvilly in Cashel House Hotel says they have lost business because of the limited broadband service.
“I had an example lately of a number of people making other arrangement because we could not get back to them on time. We were not to blame; the broadband was just too slow. We lost thousands of euro. It’s hard enough out here without having to face that scenario,” she said.
And she pointed out that this was not just about reservations – because guests have different needs and expectation nowadays.
“Many of our guests will be in business. We have people from Tel Aviv and Switzerland with us just now. They need to make contact with different parts of the world regularly through the internet. We had a lady here early this week that needed to spend a day in communication with various sources. The internet was coming and going,” she revealed.
Cashel House Hotel lost its priority with a major marketing outlet in the United States this year due to the faulty broadband service, according to Mrs McEvilly.
“We have a yearly rates bill of €25,000 and what do we get for that out here?” she asked.
Dr Casey said that a fast and reliable broadband service is a key aspect of medical practice nowadays.
“There are files, charts, results, patient documentation that have to be downloaded. You need them quickly. You need to be able to access them at different locations. But we are working on a slow and sluggish broadband system out here; we urgently need to be included in the fast tracked system”.
Coiste Tacaíochta Fostaíochta Iorras Aithneach – the Carna/Cill Chiaráin employment support group – are now contacting public representatives in an effort to get the area into the new system announced by Minister Naughten.
They had a meeting with Údarás na Gaeltachta top management about employment recently and strongly stressed the need for proper broadband services.
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