DigiClare’s newest hub in the Quin Road Industrial Estate is helping to improve working conditions for remote workers in the region.
With a noted increase in footfall in recent weeks, the hub is expected to operate at full capacity this summer, offering flexible, affordable office facilities and high-speed broadband connectivity to remote workers in Ennis.
Urban McMahon is Head of Information Systems, Digital & Broadband with Clare County Council. In his role, he manages the digital agenda for Clare County Council with particular emphasis on broadband and community remote working under rural development.
Clare County Council has been in this space since pre-Covid times. The first DigiClare remote hub was opened in Kilrush in 2018. “At that time, that was done with a view to addressing the absence of broadband in the area so we provided a digital hub facility that people could use in the area that had high-speed broadband and all the facilities that compliment it.”
Five further hubs were opened before Covid hit and there are now 10 DigiClare hubs – including Ennistymon, Ennis, Miltown Malbay, Corofin, Sixmilebridge, Feakle, Cross, Kilkee, Kilrush – with further one currently being developed. “Our 10 hubs are dotted throughout the county and are geared towards providing remote working spaces, hot desks, meeting rooms, flexible office space and they’re all available to the public,” Urban tells The Clare Echo.
Urban, who has been with Clare County Council since 1995 and was involved in Ennis’ successful Information Age Town bid as the Council’s IT manager at the time, heads up a team of three under the DigiClare moniker. The Ennis hub in the Quin Road Industrial Estate opened 12 weeks ago, and alongside the hot desks, meeting rooms and flexible office space is a large training room and three permanent business units, which are currently fully operational.
The community hub attracts a variety of clients from sole traders, to remote workers, students, training groups and individuals working for multinationals. “For example, if you had an individual who needed their own workspace for a day or two, it’s available to them in the Ennis hub and that’s becoming more prevalent these days with Zoom and these communication tools so the level of privacy required is slightly higher.” Urban adds that across the county, DigiClare caters for a number of individuals who have relocated from Dublin or other larger urban centres. “The quality of life, they’re finding, is substantially better than the life they had with the long commutes and the whole financial aspect of city living.” He says that workers who are trialling remote working from their hubs are “finding it works quite well”. “Once people find out that the hub is there and it suits their requirements, we have a lot of the same people returning.”
While the DigiHub centres exist to serve the local community, Urban notes that they are becoming popular during the summer with staycationers. “West Clare would be a highly desirable location for holidaymakers and staycationers, and if Kilkee is full, the overflow will go to Kilrush or Cross, so they all compliment each other. They’re calling it a ‘workation’. They start work early and finish early and they’ve the rest of the day to spend in West or North Clare.
“While we are approaching it with a view to attracting enterprise and various types of remote worker to the region, it’s very much a community focussed project… trying to retain local people, and trying to get people to relocate and indeed visit and work in Clare.”
Throughout the county, DigiClare – which is part-funded by grants from the Dept of Rural & Community Development – has in excess of 100 hot desk spaces, up to 15 flexible office spaces and 10 business units.
Despite the increased need for remote working spaces in Clare, the Ennis hub is not yet running at full capacity but Urban notes a substantial increase in footfall in recent weeks. “Out of the Ennis hub this morning we had in the region of 20 people working which is quite good considering we’re only established three months. I have no doubt that we will be completely full for the summer,” he added.
The affordable spaces start at €10 a day for a hot desk, with a five day rate at €40. The flexible office space – which is a private lockable space – costs €20 a day with a weekly rate of €80. “We have meeting rooms that are very reasonably priced from €30 up to €90 and we have a large training centre in Ennis that can be availed of for €180 a day that will seat 40-60 people and has audio visual equipment, all the requirements that a full training centre requires.”
All the hubs contain toilet facilities and either canteen facilities or in some cases ‘tea station’ facilities which includes fridge, microwave, kettle, dishwasher etc.
The 11th hub is being planned for Flagmount in conjunction with the Flagmount Community Group while Urban adds that DigiClare are looking at one or two other locations “if there is a demand”.
All bookings can be made at www.digiclare.ie.
