There was a big reaction to a systems failure that saw some marts cancelled at the weekend. Many want marts re-opened for buyers and sellers alike.

It’s understandable, particularly for people whose year’s work is having its one payday, as happens for so many suckler farmers at this time of year.

I’m going to leave it to the experts to determine the appropriate level of lockdown. The worsening situation in countries like Belgium shows there are no easy answers to the many hard questions surrounding COVID-19.

There should, in contrast, be straightforward answers to the questions around connectivity in rural Ireland. The success or failure of online marts is not just down to buy-in from farmers, it is primarily dependant on the reliability of the broadband delivering the service. Independent TD Denis Naughten has revealed that two in five marts have inadequate broadband. He should know a little about this. He was the communications minister who unveiled the broadband plan, and he’s using the Government’s own data.

It’s symptomatic of the problems we are all facing out in the sticks, away from towns that are now fully plugged-in to high speed fibre optic broadband. A quick examination of the broadband roll-out map (https://fibrerollout.ie/rollout-map) is revealing. When you zoom in, the yellow roads with coverage become sparse in most rural areas.

Many parts will never get fibre-optic broadband, others will wait. Fortunately, other solutions exist for some of us, like satellite broadband from relay stations. Many have to resort to using mobile broadband, with their phones the only link to the internet and the virtual world. We are playing catch-up, and the voracious demand for extra speed grows even as broadband delivery continues.

Demand continues to increase exponentially, with new games and consoles eating bandwidth. It is holding small businesses in rural locations back. It stifles enterprise, curbs employment, which in turn will contribute to the decimation of rural communities. If we can’t sort it out soon, it may be a case of would the last person leaving turn off the router. It won’t be needed any longer.