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Tag Archives: National Broadband Ireland

McCourt: ‘Capitalism is under fire around the world for good reason’

HE’S A self made multi-millionaire who is leading one of the country’s biggest infrastructure projects, but when one speaks to David McCourt it’s apparent he’s not solely interested in the issues faced by the 1%. Mr McCourt is chairman of National Broadband Ireland (NBI) and when he talks about connecting the country, it’s very clear that he’s interested in its potential for redressing rural-urban imbalance, taking the sting out of the runaway property market, and saving villages from a death spiral. The Tradaree building in Newmarket on Fergus hosted a board meeting of NBI last week, and Mr McCourt said he wanted to give a message to those attending. “This is to demonstrate to my board that everything needs to be rethought. We’ll have our board dinner in Meals on Wheels, which will be transformed for the night. It’ll be a physical representation of how everything needs to be rethought. “Meals on Wheels are rethinking food waste, a high percentage …

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Broadband plan works on way for South East Clare

WORK on the roll-out of the National Broadband Plan is expected to begin in parts of South East Clare by the end of the month. Members of the Rural Development Strategic Policy Committee (SPC) heard an update this week from Urban McMahon Head of Information Systems, Broadband and Digital on the work of National Broadband Ireland (NBI) and on the DigiClare initiative. “They will be moving out from Limerick into Parteen and areas close by,” he said. “For the build, they’ll be using the Eircom infrastructure and liaising with us on traffic management. There should be a lot of activity in East Clare in the coming months. NBI will also be undertaking a marketing and information campaign in the area before the end of this month.” Efforts to provide WiFi hotspots in each municipal district were also outlined. Mr McMahon explained that up to €120,000 had been secured to provide public WiFi in places like The Square in Kilrush, in …

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Rural Clare Will Remain Broadband “black hole” in 2021

THE government has been warned rural parts of Clare will remain a “broadband black hole” following the revelation that only four communities in Clare are scheduled for high speed broadband connection in 2021. This news will be greeted with dismay by thousands of Clare residents, who are working from home in line with public health guidelines to minimise the spread of Covid-19, despite difficulties with poor connection and coverage issues. Delays in the rollout of broadband will also hinder the government’s national plan to roll out 10,000 co-working and incubation spaces around the country over the next three years. Deputy Michael McNamara has expressed his disappointment at the “frustratingly slow” roll out of a high speed and future proofed broadband network across Clare as part of the National Broadband Plan (NBP) State led intervention. Deputy McNamara was speaking ahead of a briefing by National Broadband Ireland (NBI) to Clare County Council next Monday where the CEO Peter Hendrick will outline …

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“I couldn’t comment on it before, but it was unfair” David McCourt

NEWMARKET-on-Fergus based David McCourt, the man behind the company that has won the contract for the National Broadband Plan, has said he was unfairly labelled in the media during the selection process. He has also said that criticism of the cost of the contract failed to take into account of certain inescapable realities and that rural broadband provision can finally revitalise long-struggling areas of the country. On Tuesday, just hours after the deal was finally concluded, Mr McCourt, who heads up National Broadband Ireland, bypassed interview requests from the national media but met with The Clare Champion in his local pub, O’Neill’s, in the heart of Newmarket. He was warmly congratulated by the pub’s staff on arrival. It was an unlikely place to find a man whose company had concluded a deal with the Irish State potentially worth €3bn. On a local level, the National Broadband Plan will see €89 million invested in Clare, with 22,342 homes and businesses to …

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