Meath County Council Launches Go Remote Campaign

Meath County Council have launched its GoRemote campaign this week as workers from across the county return to their jobs after the Christmas break. The campaign seeks to highlight the opportunities for workers to do their jobs remotely either from their own homes or from a co-working hub.

Residents across Meath have the longest commuting times in the country with over 20% commuting over one hour to get to their jobs daily. This has a significant impact on not only their own lives but the quality of family life and the community around them.

Meath County Council Chief Executive Jackie Maguire said “the aim of this campaign is to encourage commuters to look at how they work, and if barriers such as low broadband or lack of facilities at home prevents remote working - they should explore the use of a co-working hub. For others the opportunity to seek a remote first job might be attractive and we’re encouraging people to check out the hundreds of remote working jobs available on the Grow Remote Jobs Board”.

The campaign will feature stories of workers who have transitioned to working remotely from home or from a co-working space in the County as well as signage and a dedicated webpage meath.ie/GoRemote directing residents to more information on Connected Hubs offering coworking desks and Grow Remote’s Job’s Board.

Liam Staff, a financial consultant living in Trim who features in the campaign launch video details how he was spending up to four hours a day commuting to work, time that he now has back since he availed of the facilities in Trim’s Flat Out Co-working and Coffee. For Belinda McKeon, a writer, the presence of the co-working hub enabled her to move to Trim town and find an ideal place to remote work while being able to drop her children to school in the mornings.

Tom Gilsenan, co-owner of Informa, an information management services company headquartered in Dublin, has been working from Kilskyre Community Activity Centre since it opened during 2022. The benefits of working from the hub enables him to be closer to home, by reducing the commute he has reduced stress and overall delivered a better quality of life. Tom also highlights that offering the opportunity to work from the hub has also proven attractive for securing new employees.

Cathaoirleach Cllr. Nick Killian added “Meath County Council has worked hard over the last 10 years to attract new jobs to the County and is committed to creating stable communities for its residents. Several communities have worked over the last two years to open new hub facilities to enable their friends and neighbours to find solutions to working closer to their homes. Work is ongoing in many communities across Meath to open up these facilities and the Council is committed to supporting this.” Cllr. Nick Killian also thanked the Department of Rural and Community Development who are funding this campaign through the Town and Village Programme.

The campaign will continue for 2023 with updates and progress on new hubs opening being highlighted through social media and on meath.ie/GoRemote.