COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
Monday, December 09, 2013
QUESTION NO.4
QUESTION: Councillor D. Looney
To ask the Manager to provide an update on the provision of free municipal Wifi in Council facilities, parks, community centres and villages, as mandated in motions put forward by myself and others during this Council term, and to make a statement on the matter?
REPLY:
South Dublin County Council continues to support the roll-out of free public Wi-Fi to our facilities, parks, community centres and villages and has been responsible for the setup of Wi-Fi facilities at the following locations:-
All SDCC Libraries:-
- County Library
- Castletymon Library
- Whitechurch Library
- Ballyroan Library – under reconstruction
- Lucan Library
- Clondalkin Library
- Stewarts Hospital Library & Coach House – 2 WAPs
Community Centres:-
- Brookfield Youth & Community Centre
Other:-
- South Dublin County Council HQ Building – various locations
- Clondalkin Civic Offices
- Civic Theatre
- Tallaght Stadium
- Grange Castle Golf Club
- Corkagh Park
Public Wi-Fi facilities are available at all of the above locations, free of charge to public users.
Following on from previous activity and motions which reaffirmed the Council's support for the roll-out of free wi-fi within Council facilities, the Council has proposed that free public wi-fi be made available under the Council's Village Renewal activities. The objective is to provide free wireless internet access to the general public on the main thoroughfares of the County's villages as a pro-business measure and as a renewal initiative. In providing such facilities we are ultimately making these areas more attractive to the public to spend their time and consequently conducting more business locally.
The model under which we are delivering the service seeks to partner with local businesses enabling them to become stakeholders and engaging them in the process. The logistical issues which the engagement of local business seeks to overcome involve; location provision by allowing access to their property for mounting of the Wi-Fi equipment, and internet provision through segmentation of their existing broadband access allowing sharing of the service in a secure manner. South Dublin County Council has made available funds to cover the cost of the necessary equipment, installation, and ongoing management of the solution. There is no additional financial cost to the businesses.
The Council are pleased to report that Lucan Village has been enabled for some time while Templeogue Village has recently been WiFi enabled under this programme. We continue to make steady progress and efforts continue to develop Wi-Fi in the other village locations including Rathfarnham, Clondalkin, Tallaght, Newcastle, Rathcoole, Palmerston and Saggart.