Ennis residents clock up 15 hours each month surfing the Internet, three times the national average, according to a new survey on the Co Clare town.
Since September 1997, when it was designated Information Age Town by Eircom following a nationwide competition, £15 million has been invested in personal computer and connection technology. In those four years, 85 per cent of eligible homes bought a PC through the subsidised computer scheme. Eircom aimed to find out how general computer use would develop.
PCs were available for £260 in 1998, a discount of about £1,300 at the time. Ennis householders own 80 per cent more computers than their Dublin counterparts.
Almost three-quarters of the people surveyed believed the project was being managed properly but 8 per cent cited a need for more courses and more computer training.
Four in 10 households had some formal computer or Internet training.
The 13- to 17-year-old age group had the broadest range of ability. "People aged over 55 really have quite low levels of competence," the survey said.
The researchers also found that 25 per cent of PC owners chose not to be connected to the Internet, mainly because of lack of interest, compared to a national average of 37 per cent.
The survey, comprising 402 household interviews and 563 individual interviews by Behaviour & Attitudes Marketing Research, found the typical Internet user in Ennis spent 14 hours 48 minutes on-line each month, compared to a national rate of four hours 20 minutes and a US rate of nine hours 33 minutes. Most used it to contact relatives and friends.
Mr Michael Byrne, chief executive of the project, said it had taken more time than anticipated to get people to use it to this extent.
"For national Government and for big corporates, a lot more technology has been developed than has been adopted widescale by people. Much more notice is going to have to be given in future to the human element."
Computer skills levels were "remarkably high", the survey noted, probably because of a high degree of informal coaching between family members.
Internet use was more evenly distributed in social class terms than was the case in other PC applications. The researchers suggested the Internet "is the best mechanism for encouraging new technology applications among people from unskilled working-class backgrounds".
This social category, however, was less aware of the criteria to qualify for the subsidised computer scheme and, similarly, people in rented accommodation were more likely to turn it down.
"The main reasons for rejecting the offer are that people were simply not interested (38 per cent), that they already had a computer in their homes (19 per cent) or that they saw it as an unnecessary expense (13 per cent)."
Among Internet users, on-line shopping was low, comparable with the national level of 11 per cent. Most purchases were books and CDs.
"The major potential for growth in Internet usage is also in the area of general contact with friends and relatives. Internet only accounts for 17 per cent of activity in this area, the balance being by phone, fax or letter."
The researchers also found some resistance to Internet connection among one in four PC owners.
"Their reasons are an amalgam of lack of interest on the one hand or concerns about costs and the impact on young children on the other." This compares with a national rate of 63 per cent.
Cheaper phone line costs were said to have stimulated more Internet use although the researchers concluded that lack of time was the main barrier to use.
The full report is available on www.ennis.ie