Broadband failures in west Mayo leave rural residents feeling like ‘second-class citizens’
At a recent meeting, councillors from the Westport and Belmullet Municipal District heard that ongoing issues with internet and phone services are leaving residents in rural west Mayo feeling neglected.
Cllr Chris Maxwell highlighted ongoing concerns about telecommunications and internet access in the area, particularly in relation to its impact on tourism and residents.
He proposed that councillors should write to relevant companies and prepare a report for the next council meeting to "see what's going on" because he feels people in the west are being "treated like second-class citizens."
Cllr Maxwell said he had received multiple calls from his constituents in the Louisburg and wider area from people he said were Vodafone and Westnet customers who have had no telecommunications access since last Friday night.
He continued, saying that many of these people work from home and were unable to use their computers for work.
"I think it's a disgrace what is going on," he said, "We want to welcome tourists into our area, but when they come into an area and have no access to the internet on their holidays, they can't do their business because of the bad coverage - it needs updating in a massive way".
Cllr Maxwell said there is one man in Dooghmakeon, Louisburg, whose landline has been out of service since Storm Éowyn and stated it was "not good enough in this day and age".
"We welcome all the tourists into the West of Ireland, and we have the finest beaches, lakes, and scenery, and I think these organisations should treat us a lot better,
"We are being treated as second-class citizens at the moment," he said, and added it would be "no harm" for the council to send a message to the companies.
"We need to get an update and bring all these modern-day communications up to a reliable and professional standard."
The Independent Ireland councillor told the meeting that, "rural Ireland is alive and well - and we are not going anywhere".
Cllr Gerry Coyle agreed and added, "They want to stick up windmills in every corner of the area in Belmullet, to export the energy out and leave ourselves in darkness."
"When Storm Éowyn was on, the woman nearest the windmills in Bellacorick was out of electric power for seven days, while the windmills were spinning away and exporting energy out of the area - we were left in darkness," he told the meeting.
He said this cannot and will not be allowed to continue when windmills are being "stuck up in every single corner of our area."
Cllr Peter Flynn said he understood his colleagues' frustration but stated that the National Broadband Rollout had given some "rural parts of Mayo better broadband than the middle of Dublin City and Cork."
He recommended that people switch to Westnet, a local provider whose call centre is based in Castlebar, and said their service is "second to none," and highlighted the importance of supporting local business.
Cllr Flynn also added that Eir's services are "improving" and they are "reacting better to requests" made to them, and noted the direct email address available to councillors who are raising issues for their constituents.
He reminded councillors to be careful "not to talk the county down" and added that there were parts of rural Mayo that had some of the "best broadband facilities in the country".
"Yes, we want to make sure every part of the county is taken care of, but we are making progress, and I think Mayo is becoming an attractive location for people to base themselves and commute [to work]," he said.
Director of the Westport and Belmullet Municipal District, Joanne Greehan, told the meeting that the council is actively working to improve telecommunication services across the county.
She suggested inviting a representative to a future council meeting to provide an overview of the work being done.
Danny O'Toole, Head of Digital Development and Broadband at Mayo County Council, will be invited to the January meeting.
This article has been funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.