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Data Centres
Analysis
carbon copy
What seemed to be a very Irish story about data centres became a big voting issue in the US
Tuesday
3 Nov
Thursday
29 Oct
Analysis
the housing essay
Construction moratorium: an idea whose time has definitely arrived
Our Derelict Ireland analysts recommend a three-year initial suspension of all construction on non-essential buildings – in favour of building homes.
Tuesday
27 Oct
Data Centres
Friends of the Earth calls data centre lobby boss 'insulting' after comparing residents to Brexiteers
Sunday
25 Oct
Must Read
Data Centres
Data centre lobby declares Sally Rooney a 'hypocrite' for focus on printed word over e-books
Saturday
24 Oct
Data Centres
Irish data centre chief says critics are 'like Brexiteers' and fuelled by conspiracy theories
Friday
16 Oct
Planning Permission
Calls for moratorium on fossil fuel-run data centres as Kilmeaden development refused
Wednesday
14 Oct
Wednesday
30 Sep
Tuesday
29 Sep
Must Read
Power Struggle
Naas residents plan to fight data centre plan at 'every step' after council defeat
Campaigners suffered a setback to their bid to stop Microsoft developing a data centre campus this week.
Thursday
24 Sep
Wednesday
23 Sep
building summit
Top government adviser calls for data centres to be housed in purpose-built energy parks
The development of the contentious sector is the focus of a construction industry conference in Croke Park today.
Thursday
17 Sep
Friday
11 Sep
Data Centres
Energy minister says data centres are to Ireland what car factories are to Germany
Energy Minister Darragh O’Brien says he doesn’t want to bring the shutters down on data centres.
Monday
7 Sep
utilities regulator
Deal to give data centres cheaper energy for riskier supply labelled as 'deeply unfair'
Tuesday
1 Sep
Darragh O'Brien
Ireland's policy on data centres was under the microscope today at the EU's climate committee
Saturday
29 Aug
Kennedy Summer School
Backlash to data centres stateside means US may 'prefer to see them built in Ireland'
Monday
24 Aug
Must Read
Data Centres
Data centre water use almost doubled during Ireland's long, hot summer months
Data centres used over 514 million litres of water between May and July this year, increasing during the hosepipe ban.
Friday
7 Aug
Analysis
NO MORE
New York has temporarily stopped building data centres. Should Ireland do the same?
Thursday
6 Aug
Must Read
The Morning Lead
Concerns over supporting data centres ahead of transport or housing scrubbed from government report
Several aspects which questioned continued investment in the sector were later cut from the final version released to the public.
Saturday
1 Aug
Wednesday
29 Jul
Opinion
Water Shortages
Data down the drain: We're told to cut our showers short, but data centres face no such pressure
Saturday
25 Jul
Analysis
WHY ARE WE DOING THIS
Do hosepipe bans actually work?
Ireland is currently operating at a water deficit equivalent to around 6,000 Croke Park stadiums.
Friday
24 Jul
Investigation
Water use
Data centres used almost one billion litres of water last year, but another industry used far more
The Journal Investigates found that while data centres use huge quantities of water every year, pharmaceutical companies often use a lot more.
At least 1.7 billion litres of water used by data centres in past two years.
Meta and Equinix data centres by far the highest users of water.
Pharmaceutical companies often use many magnitudes more than data centres.
Saturday
18 Jul
Wednesday
15 Jul
Analysis
short supply
The hosepipe ban has led to criticism of Ireland's data centres, but how much water do they use?
As of June 2025, Ireland was home to 89 data centres, which produce a significant amount of heat.
Saturday
11 Jul
Column
Surrealing in the Years
Government deserves little credit for passing the zombified Territories Bill
Tuesday
7 Jul
hold up
Plans for controversial €1bn data centre campus in Co Westmeath stalled after 10 appeals lodged
electricity usage
Data centres accounted for almost a quarter of all electricity usage in Ireland last year
Friday
26 Jun
Wednesday
24 Jun
The Morning Lead
Government data centre report didn’t examine prospect of higher electricity bills
The Department of Enterprise report didn’t address rising electricity prices due to data centre demand.
Report terms of reference suggested examining potential for higher electricity prices
Department spent over €100,000 on the report
Electricity prices could rise higher due to data centre demand
Wednesday
17 Jun
Climate Change
Energy minister says data centres are good for Ireland as Dáil debates moratorium
Labour told the Dáil data centre energy consumption is “insane”.
Monday
8 Jun
Thursday
28 May
new research
Ireland's data centre energy drain: How Big Tech added €1.4bn to household electricity bills
Thursday
21 May
Wednesday
13 May
Climate Change Advisory Council
Data centres 'cannibalising' renewables as Ireland warned of fossil fuel 'energy shock'
It’s been warned that the instability in global energy markets ‘reinforces the importance and urgency’ of the government ending Ireland’s reliance on fossil fuels.
Saturday
2 May
Friday
1 May
Friday
17 Apr
Data Centre Lobbying
How Big Tech wrote secrecy into EU law to hide data centres’ environmental toll
A cross-border investigation has revealed how industry lobbying is shaping data centre regulation in the EU.
Environmental information on individual data centres deemed confidential by EU
Ireland has missed multiple deadlines to transpose data centre transparency legislation
Demand for AI leading to data centre boom across Europe
Thursday
12 Mar
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