GALWAY WEST, Niall Ó Brolcháin (Green Party)

Bios

Found this in todays Galway Advertiser.

http://www.galwayadvertiser.ie/dws/story.tpl?inc=2002/05/09/news/25345.html

Some of it reads VERY familiar . Great work folks!!!

Government holding back progress on internet access costs, says Greens
BY JULIE TIERNEY

GALWAY WEST Green Party candidate Niall Ó Brolcháin is accusing the Government of holding back the development of flat rate and broadband internet services in Ireland.

Despite what ministers constantly tell us we are languishing near the bottom of the OECD internet charts according to Ó Brolcháin who is criticising the fact that Ireland has no flat rate internet access and no residential broadband service.

"If we are serious about rural development, we should be investing in these services to promote local job creation, distance learning, and teleworking. With flat-rate and broadband access, we could be promoting e-Government usage and reducing both the isolation of rural communities and the congestion of traffic in our city streets."

According to Ó Brolcháin, it costs € 45 a month to use the internet for just two hours a night in Ireland, while in Britain this would cost € 8.50 with flat-rate access. A home worker in Ireland pays up to € 150 per month for daytime access he said, while in Britain it costs just € 30 a month for unlimited connection time.

The election candidate is also critcising the recently launched ADSL service saying it costs more than three times as much in Ireland as in France and the Netherlands.

"You could buy a new top-of-the-range home computer every year for the cost of ADSL in Ireland," he said. "If Malta and New Zealand - small island nations like us - can provide reasonably priced broadband access, then there is no excuse here in Ireland. If we have to take on the vested interests and legislate to make this happen, then the Greens in government will not be afraid to act," he added.

Ó Brolcháin works as a computer software consultant in Galway city. He believes that the hi-tech industry in Ireland is suffering due to a lack of knowledge on the part of our legislators. If elected, he would be the first computer professional to sit in the Dáil.

He has just got my vote and about 10 others

P.S. Notice the inability of the writer to seperate the words "congestion " and "streets" from the same sentence. lol

aidan_dunne

Anybody notice how he was quoting off the Ireland Offline leaflet? Someone must have handed him one while out canvassing or e-mailed him or something. It's a pity that, just like a typical politician, he made it sound as if he came up with these facts himself. I think he should have acknowledged that it was Ireland Offline who brought these things to his attention instead of taking the credit for himself.

Still, that gripe aside, I think it's great that a politician is truly acknowledging these things and seems genuinely concerned with this issue. I had a feeling all along, though, that if any party was going to make this issue stand out and acknowledge how important it is, it would be the Greens. I don't live in Galway but, if I did, I think he would be a very strong candidate for my No. 1 vote right now.

m1ke

if that is the way the green party are thinking in general then they'd have my vote. I'd like to see a little more from them though - and not the pre-election promises of this one candidate.

Dangger

I have mailed Mr. Ó Brolcháin and will keep you posted.

Dustaz

that was the first thing i noticed aidan
Still, this if anything proves that the leaflets work. Good work leaflet-making-committee fellas! Keep sending em in folks

pencil

Good stuff,

Where's this leaflet, anyone got a link.

sceptre

Originally posted by pencil
Good stuff,

Where's this leaflet, anyone got a link.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=50161

BoneCollector

yes looks good... i to have been sending very! strong mails to all parties including the green party, ODTR dpt of enterprise, european commission,, etc.... (Oh! yeah! Eircon)
have yet to recieve replies..

EVERYONE KEEP MAILING... DONT STOP TILL WE GET WHAT WE NEED!