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Laois County Council signed Contracts for the WIFI4EU project on Tuesday 28th September 2021 with NIS- Network and Infrastructure Support.

The rollout of the WIFI4EU project will commence now at the following locations – Portlaoise Town Centre , Portarlington Town Centre , Abbeyleix Main Street, Mountmellick Main Street and Clonaslee Main Street.

Survey works and consultation with communities and property owners (where necessary) will occur over the next few weeks and all locations are expected to be complete with Free Public Wifi by end of February 2022.

Laois County Council have partnered with the EU and DRCD in providing and rolling out the WIFI4EU programme.

The WiFi4EU initiative promotes free access to Wi-Fi connectivity for citizens in public spaces including parks, squares, public buildings, libraries, health centres and museums in municipalities throughout Europe. This project is also intended to increase the attractiveness of our public realm to visitors and residents of each of the towns and their localities and will work in tandem with the continuation of external seating areas for outdoor dining in many locations.

We look forward to working with our partners on this project and Network and Infrastructure Support, a Midlands based company.

We apologise in advance for any disruption that might occur during the course of the roll out. If you have any queries, contact can be made with the Broadband Officer – Ms Antoinette Brennan at Anbrennan@laoiscoco.ie

 

Our Rural Future:  Minister Humphreys announces County Allocations for additional upgrade works to rural roads and laneways

• Minister confirms distribution of additional €10.5 million funding announced as part of ‘Our Rural Future’

• Funding doubles the total budget under the Local Improvement Scheme this year to €21 million

• Investment to improve access to rural homes, farms and outdoor amenities

 

Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys TD, has today announced the county breakdown of a further €10.5 million investment in our rural roads and laneways.

The allocation represents a doubling of the budget under the Local Improvement Scheme (LIS) – bringing the overall annual spend to a record €21 million.

The Local Improvement Scheme is designed to support the continued improvement of non-public roads in rural communities and improves access to rural homes and farms, as well as outdoor amenities such as our lakes, rivers, mountains and beaches.

These roads and laneways are not normally maintained by locally authorities but, nonetheless, represent a vital piece of infrastructure for rural residents.

The share of the additional funding that is being allocated to each county under this second round comes following engagement between the Department of Rural and Community Development and local authorities.

The county allocations are based on the level of works that each local authority indicated they could complete before the end of the year.

The higher the level of demand that could be met by a local authority before the end of the year, the higher the level of funding they have been allocated.

The LIS scheme was re-introduced in 2017 and over 10,000 landowners and rural residents have benefitted to date.

The Minister made the announcement in County Clare as part the Our Rural Future Roadshow.

Announcing the allocation to each County, Minister Humphreys said:

“’Our Rural Future’, the Government’s ambitious five year policy for Rural Ireland, commits to increasing the Government’s investment in our rural roads through the Local Improvement Scheme.

 

“So I was delighted to secure a further €10.5 million for the Scheme which doubles our investment under the scheme this year to €21 million – the highest annual allocation since the scheme was re-introduced.

 

“This additional funding demonstrates my commitment to improving connectivity for rural residents – whether it be access to homes, farms or outdoor amenities.”

 

Under LIS, local authorities are responsible for identifying and prioritising roads for improvement works under the scheme, in consultation with residents/landowners.

The works must be completed before the end of the year.

Details of the allocation to each County under this second Round and the total allocations under both Rounds of funding are set out below.

The Minister continued:

“I am very much aware of the need to tackle the backlog of eligible applications that exist within many of our local authorities.

 

“My Department over the coming months will work closely with local authorities to ensure that this funding is fully delivered this year so that rural residents can benefit.

 

“Increasing rural connectivity is a vital component of ‘Our Rural Future’. With this second round of funding under the Local Improvement Scheme this year, we will have invested €80 million in upgrading rural roads and laneways across the country since 2017.”

 

Revised 2021 County Allocations

County	Allocation Round 1 2021	Allocation Round 2 2021	Total Allocation 2021
Carlow	€270,000	€193,931	€463,931
Cavan	€289,254	€830,135	€1,119,389
Clare	€500,811	€327,717	€828,528
Cork	€920,000	€492,738	€1,412,738
Donegal	€697,456	€490,947	€1,188,403
Galway	€876,959	€703,912	€1,580,871
Kerry	€689,930	€497,169	€1,187,099
Kildare	€270,000	€225,586	€495,586
Kilkenny	€308,905	€469,777	€778,682
Laois	€270,000	€284,259	€554,259
Leitrim	€270,000	€233,830	€503,830
Limerick	€404,090	€1,100,569	€1,504,659
Louth	€270,000	€147,821	€417,821
Longford	€270,000	€123,041	€393,041
Mayo	€798,496	€563,129	€1,361,625
Meath	€346,394	€457,543	€803,937
Monaghan	€270,000	€1,056,223	€1,326,223
Offaly	€298,871	€246,369	€545,240
Roscommon	€375,104	€70,391	€445,495
Sligo	€276,154	€194,388	€470,542
Tipperary	€619,969	€101,562	€721,531
Waterford	€278,802	€593,957	€872,759
Westmeath	€276,433	€351,956	€628,389
Wexford	€349,878	€303,908	€653,786
Wicklow	€302,494	€439,141	€741,635
Totals	€10,500,000	€10,500,000	€21,000,000

The Government has launched a ‘Be Summer Ready’ leaflet, containing information on being prepared and staying safe during these summer months, for the individual, family, home, farm, business and school.

This booklet is part of the Government of Ireland initiative to provide information to the general public on issues which may affect them during the summer months in Ireland. The booklet complements a long standing and very successful “Be Winter Ready” public information campaign.

• Be Summer Ready Leaflet
• Be Summer Ready Booklet

During the summer months, Ireland’s waterways and beaches become very popular. More people visit the countryside, engage in outdoor pursuits, visit family farms or take holidays abroad. With these activities

there are associated risks and this booklet provides information on these.

In addition, people die in Ireland in drowning accidents, farm accidents, on our roads or succumb to summer related illnesses. Wildfires are a more common occurrence in this period.

 

The booklet is published by the Office of Emergency Planning, on behalf of the Government Task Force on Emergency Planning. There is more information and useful links on website: www.gov.ie/summerready

The Failte Ireland/Laois County Council Outdoor Seating and Accessories for Tourism & Hospitality Business Scheme will provide a level of financial assistance to tourism and hospitality businesses, in our town centres, to purchase or upgrade equipment to provide additional outdoor seating and, therefore, increase their outdoor dining capacity for the summer of 2021. The scheme will be administered through Laois County Council and will support independent tourism and hospitality business owners to create outdoor dining experiences in a regulated and accessible manner. This scheme has now been extended to include Wet Pubs.

For further information and an expression of Interest Form please Click Here

Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys TD, has today Friday, 5 February) highlighted the responsibilities of dog owners and the vulnerability of sheep to dog attacks, particularly during lambing season.

Minister Humphreys said dog attacks cause real and serious injury to sheep and can have a negative impact, both financially and emotionally, on the farmers involved and their families.

While the vast majority of dog owners act responsibility, the issue of animals being attacked has been raised in many parts of the country.

Some 253 incidences of ‘Livestock Worrying’ were reported to local authorities in 2019.

Speaking to mark the beginning of lambing season, Minister Humphreys pointed out that under the Control of Dogs Acts, it is the responsibility of dog owners to ensure that they are in control of their dogs at all times.

“Some 2.5 million lambs will be born on farms all over Ireland this springtime. Sheep flocks are very vulnerable to dog attacks at this critical time, and especially during the night.

“The presence of dogs, even on a lead, can alarm sheep prior to lambing and have a detrimental effect on both the sheep and their lambs.

“I know that the vast majority of dog owners behave responsibly. However, this is a matter of considerable concern for farmers, particularly those who live in rural parts of the country.

“Dog Wardens and An Garda Síochána are doing what they can. But they cannot be in every part of the country at all times. The solution rests primarily with dog owners.”

 

Are you cocooning and looking for books or reading material or do you know someone who is elderly or vulnerable who is cocooning at home ?

You can request a selection of library books, audio books, magazines and DVDs directly from Laois County Council Library Services. Volunteers will then make arrangements with you to deliver these library items right to your doorstep.

All items are on long loan – there are no overdue fines or fees and access to the service is always FREE.

Contact Portlaoise Library on 057 8622333 or email laoislibrary@laoiscoco.ie for details.

PUBLIC CONSULTATION NOTICE

Laois County Council have prepared a Draft Local Digital Strategy for County Laois for the period 2020-2024.
The Strategy will set out Laois County Councils ambitions to meet the needs and aspirations of the people of County Laois in enabling them to benefit from Digital Technologies and infrastructures throughout the County.
The Strategy was informed by a series of consultations with a numerous stakeholders, including the general public, businesses, nonprofit organizations and interested stakeholders.
However, an essential part of the Drafting of this Strategy is obtaining the views of members of the public.

The Draft Strategy will go on display on the 20th July 2020 until 20th August 2020 (both dates inclusive). For convenience, copies of the Draft Strategy will be available at your local library or on www.laois.ie and is available on https://consult.laois.ie/

Submissions or observations with respect to the Draft Strategy, may be made by one of the following means
• online at https://consult.laois.ie or by email to digitalstrategy@laoiscoco.ie

Written submissions or observations with respect to the proposed Draft Strategy can be made to the Broadband Officer within the above said period and will be taken into consideration before the final adoption of the Draft Strategy.

These should be marked for the attention of

 

Ms. Antoinette Brennan,
Broadband Officer,
Laois County Council,
Aras an Chontae,
JFL Avenue,
Portlaoise,
Co Laois

 

before 4:30 pm on 20th August 2020.

Signed

Joe Delaney
Director of Housing, Regeneration and Planning

The Council phone line 057 866 4000 is open Monday to Friday, between the hours of 9am to 5pm, for the Laois County Council Community Response Support Helpline and deal with normal Council queries.

On Saturdays the Laois County Council Community Response Support Helpline is available on 1800 832010 (10am – 1pm / 2pm – 4pm) to facilitate the most appropriate community response to the needs of vulnerable people living in the community where their usual sources of support have become unavailable due to COVID19.

Click HERE to visit our Community Response Support page

The Laois Community Call Helpline is no longer in operation . Laois County Council can be contacted at 057 866 4000, Monday to Friday, between the hours of 9am to 5pm, to deal with all Council related queries

For further information please go to our COVID-19 Community Response page HERE