Today I hosted a constructive meeting with the Imagine Broadband executive team regarding rural broadband coverage for Kildare North in Leinster House today. In attendance were Ciaran Doyle and Brian O’Donoghue from Imagine Broadband and Cllr. Paul Ward.

Having previously worked with Imagine to bring fibre broadband to rural areas of Kill and Eadestown where previously services had been poor I was keen to stress the need for broadband in North West Kildare. Cllr Paul Ward explained the urgent need for improved broadband services in Newtown and Kilcock during this meeting.

It was agreed that Imagine’s technological team will begin to next assess these areas for further roll out. They will work with Deputy Lawless to target the areas in North West Kildare which need better coverage.

It is great to progress this issue further. It was vitally important to increase broadband services in North West Kildare and the first steps will now take place. Businesses, students, and families all need faster broadband as a basic need. The pilot in Eadestown and Kilteel has gone very well and Imagine have now agreed to roll the service out further to Clane, Straffan, and Ardclough. They will next begin to work on Newtown, Kilcock, and North West Kildare coverage at my request.