Eoin Ó Riain moved from Dublin to Caorán na gCearc, Baile na hAbhann, Co Galway, in 2003.

Like many web-based entrepreneurs he no longer felt the need to live in a city and thought he could run his publishing business from the Gaeltacht area instead.

He publishes a small technical periodical in the area of automation, especially process automation. He also publishes a web resource in the same area.

Mr Ó Riain said he would never have made the move to Connemara if he had known how inadequate the broadband would be.

"I think that the most significant illustration of the situation throughout my area of Cois Fharraige and south Connemara is that the new news enterprise [tuairisc.ie] set up last year was unable to find a suitable site for its business in the Gaeltacht area it serves and had to set up shop in Bearna, which at best is a marginal Gaeltacht area," he says. (Tuairisc.ie confirmed to The Irish Times that the presence of fibre-optic cables was a reason for locating in Bearna outside Galway city.)

Mr Ó Riain said the local district committee in his area has set up a forum to try and improve broadband, but “looking at the current Government’s perceived anti-rural bias they have little expectation of any real action and are extremely despondent.

“At my present age [late 60s] it is unlikely that I will move the business but will close it down and the terrible service in electronic communications will be a major contributory factor.”