Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys TD, has today officially launched the national ‘Connected Hubs Showcase Day’ at the Creative Spark Downtown Hub in Dundalk, County Louth.

Over 50 Connected Hubs are hosting events around the country displaying the regional diversity of the digital hub network. Events take a variety of formats including co-working crawls, speaker events and coffee mornings.

Taking place as part of the Government’s national campaign to promoting remote working, the national Showcase Day will encourage more employers, small businesses and start-ups to consider the wide range of remote working options available nationally.

The event at Creative Spark in Dundalk focussed on town regeneration and heard directly from hub users who gave their experience of returning to their local community as a result of the opportunities presented by remote working.

Speaking at the launch of the Connected Hubs Showcase Day in Dundalk the Minister said:

“Today’s initiative is all about showcasing the fantastic remote facilities that are open for business in every single county in Ireland.

“It’s about promoting the many opportunities and benefits that remote working is providing to tens of thousands of people.

“I believe that by giving people that choice to work from within their own communities, we can revitalise the centres of our towns and villages.

“We can reduce commuting times, lower transport emissions and, most importantly, improve the quality of life of our people.”

Connected Hubs is a flagship initiative led by the Department of Rural and Community Development and implemented by the Western Development Commission. The initiative will connect and deepen the remote working infrastructure across rural Ireland.

Image: Minister Humphreys with the team from Creative Spark

Allan Mulrooney Interim CEO, Western Development Commission said:

"The journey of Connected Hubs, starting as a project alongside the Atlantic seaboard and growing into a national project, is a testament to the power of collaboration and the potential for rural communities to embrace digital transformation. Today's milestone event, the Connected Hubs Showcase Day, highlights the regional diversity and impact of the digital hub network, and we are proud to work in partnership with the Department of Rural and Community Development to deepen the remote working infrastructure across rural Ireland."

The network now has 315 hubs across the country registered on its online platform.