Leitrim County Council has launched Ireland’s first Digital Placemaking Framework to support internet connectivity for businesses and communities across the county, expand online access to public services, and grow digital skills for everyone.
The strategy, Digital Placemaking: A Strategy for a Connected Leitrim, was unveiled at the Re-Imagining Rural Ireland conference at Lough Rynn Castle in Mohill today (October 13).
Alongside a commitment to make internet connectivity available to all businesses in the county within two years, the plan aims to make all Leitrim County Council services, and data related to planning and climate, available to access online. A digital tools training programme is also planned to boost digital skills and social inclusion in the county.
Leitrim County Council highlighted how fibre broadband rollout will enable key elements of the strategy, including the creation of a Smart Village Network, a series of digitally enabled communities across Leitrim, and the Connected Enterprise Network, which will link innovation spaces such as Carrick Business Campus in Carrick-on-Shannon and The Hive into a single countywide ecosystem.
Other features of the plan include:
- The Digital Skills and Inclusion Programme, which will help residents, businesses and community groups build confidence in using digital tools
- The Digital Local Government Programme, which will see the local authority’s services made available online, along with data and mapping tools related to planning, mobility, and climate resilience.
Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht Dara Calleary delivered the keynote address at the Lough Rynn Castle event to launch the root and branch revamp of Leitrim County Council’s digital services. He said:
“This is a visionary step by Leitrim County Council. The Digital Placemaking framework shows what can be achieved when digital policy meets local creativity and ambition. Leitrim is demonstrating that technology can strengthen rural life — not replace it. This is the type of innovation that will help us deliver Ireland’s National Digital Strategy on the ground, community by community.”
Also in attendance at the event were Colin Regan, the GAA’s Community and Health Manager and Atlantic Fellow at Trinity College Dublin; Justin Gleeson, Director of the All-Island Research Observatory at Maynooth University; Dr. Karen Keaveney, Head of Rural Development at UCD; John Daly, Economist at the Northern and Western Regional Assembly; Mary Reynolds, Chair of the Mohill Town Team; and Gareth Makim, Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht.
The Digital Placemaking Framework has been co-designed with community groups, enterprise partners and academic institutions, aligning strongly with European Smart Villages policy.
Cathaoirleach of Leitrim County Council, Cllr. Paddy Farrell, highlighted how the initiative connects technology to everyday life in the county.
He said: “For Leitrim, digital is about people and place. It’s about creating opportunities to live locally, work remotely, and stay connected. This strategy brings all of that together. It puts our communities at the centre and uses digital innovation to support sustainable growth, inclusion and local pride.”
David Minton, Director of Services at Leitrim County Council, said the scheme makes Leitrim a national testbed for smart rural living.
He added: “Digital Placemaking is a simple idea with transformative potential. It links the digital infrastructure we’re investing in — broadband, hubs, data — with the social and spatial fabric of Leitrim. The strategy builds on major local investments whilst also harnessing the unique traits of our towns and villages”.
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