This article is from page 12 of the 2012-09-04 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 12 JPG
KILRUSH is the third largest town in Clare behind Ennis and Shannon but, in terms of the information super-highway, the West Clare capital has now been cast into the slow lane when it comes access to technology.
Ennis once enjoyed Information Age Town status, while a new highspeed broadband service is now be- ing rolled out in Shannon, but the 2011 National Census of Population has revealed that Kilrush ranks as the second-worst town in Ireland when it comes to internet access.
The census statistics have revealed that 45 per cent of households in Kilrush now have internet access, which places the once bustling business and market town second-worst only to Rathkeale in Limerick, which has 55 per cent no internet connection rating.
The release of these statistics outlining Kilrush’s lowly internet rating came on the same day that the Minister for Communications, Pat Rabbitte, announced details of a new National Broadband Plan to bring the internet to every citizen in the country by 2015.
In acknowledging that there is a problem with internet access outside major urban areas and that State in- tervention was necessary, Minister Rabbitte said the new € 300m plan has been put in place following detailed consultations with leading telecommunication companies.
The census returns for Clare show that 25,041 households in Clare have access to broadband internet services, which leaves a shortfall of 17,493 households that have no broadband.
And of these 17,493 households without broadband, it has been revealed by the CSO that 12, 313 of these have no form of internet access whatsoever, while 4,149 have low speed internet access.
Thes low figures for the county will heighten calls for Clare to be given a prominent place in the new National Broadband Plan and its stated policy of providing broadband speeds of at least 30 megabits to every citizen within three years.