Do data centres deserve to soak up almost a quarter of Ireland’s energy?
A balanced discussion requires acknowledging both the benefits and the costs of hosting data centres here
Data Centres
Dublin industrial and logistics market booms in second quarter of year
Following relatively slow start to 2026, take-up rebounded in Q2 to reach 619,000sq ft
Data centres and Irish electricity demand
The multinational companies behind them employ thousands in Ireland
Humans: Just a ghost in the machine as artificial intelligence redefines ‘good jobs’
As AI makes work more precarious, how can we manage to prioritise job reconversion rather than displacement?
The great AI data centre cover-up
Tech companies need to come clean about the mounting environmental fallout of their race to build more hubs
National Women’s Council calls for fully public-funded childcare system in next budget
Organisation urges Government to allocate extra €300m to reduce costs for families
Data centres account for almost a quarter of Irish electricity usage in 2025
Electricity consumption by data centres rose 10% last year alone, says CSO
State must ensure an adequate return on assets
Whether it is data centres tapping the energy grid of social housing tenants’ rent, the Government needs to manage its balance sheet
We can’t tackle climate change effectively if the Government refuses to show leadership
Inaction on climate change is a perfect example of ‘boiled frog syndrome’
Personal climate sacrifices ring hollow while data centres expand
Reader argues that expansion of data centres undermines calls for personal lifestyle changes
Chinese tech giant Alibaba seeks staff for first Irish data centre
Chinese tech giant previously announced plans to spend €45bn on cloud facilities by the end of next year
Targeted supports more critical amid a gradual economic slowdown
Marginal reduction in IT employment is probably one of the first manifestations of AI influencing the economy
Rising energy and materials prices hit building costs
Report highlights challenges to construction growth
Even the cloud cannot solve everything
Data centre fire in India underlines just how vulnerable our digital information can be with even the latest technology
We should halt data centre growth in Ireland unless they use 100% green energy
The optimum location for data centres is where there’s an always-on source of abundant carbon-free energy
Miriam Lord’s Week: Let he who is without Sim cast the first phone
Taoiseach’s cranky inner teacher comes out as he sees TDs not paying attention in class
Look under the hood. There are ‘echoes of 2006’ in the Irish economy
Trump says Iran peace deal has averted ‘worldwide depression’ but closer to home experts worry prices will continue to rise regardless
Energy price shock to squeeze Irish wage growth this year, says Central Bank
Global oil and gas prices now unlikely to return to more normal levels despite putative Middle East peace deal
Climate justice calls for a fairer, healthier, more stable future
Shift towards climate justice is essential for our collective future
Government plan for sustainable data centres is like ‘sustainable smoking’, TD says
Labour seeks moratorium and levy amid concerns over energy demand and electricity prices
Irish industrial gas giant faces criticism over energy spending
BOC Gases spends €18m a-year on electricity in Ireland, says climate group
What ‘data’ is stored in data centres? My videos for starters
Until recently, I had only a vague idea of my personal responsibility for the situation
Don’t just electrify every car. Reduce the number of journeys made in the first place
The parallel with recycling is instructive
New AI weather model is ‘1,000 times more efficient’ at forecasts, committee hears
Separate ‘good AI’ from ‘bad AI’ in deciding data centre policy, TDs urged
Data centre electricity demand could exceed entire power usage of Republic
Oireachtas committee on artificial intelligence to hear of challenges of data centre expansion
More than 870,000 jobs created by data centres? Don’t make me laugh
You simply cannot attribute that many jobs to data centres, no more than you can attribute every job in Ireland people commute to by car to the existence of traffic lights
Power-hungry data centres fuel increasingly fractious debate about squeezed national grid
Row raging since 2021 when senior EirGrid executive noted voracious appetite for power, now at 20% of Republic’s electricity
Ireland is caught in a data centre trap and there’s no easy way out
In the culture wars over data centres, there is no space for the middle ground. But a realistic examination of the benefits and costs is what we need
Don’t worry about a 12% fall in GDP, but watch unemployment closely
Latest huge move in Irish economic data highlights how multinationals distort GDP numbers
High Court green light for €1.6bn Ennis data centre as leave to appeal is refused
Not in public interest that an appeal be launched on the basis of a tendentious mischaracterisation of the trial judgment, judge says
Data centres’ energy use being ‘managed appropriately’ by Government, Darragh O’Brien says
Minister for Energy and the Environment has responded to UN report that described Ireland as ‘cautionary tale’
The Irish Times view on the Government’s data centre argument: how not to make the case
The figures earnestly recited by Minister for Finance Simon Harris deserve scrutiny
Ireland’s data centre strain a ‘cautionary tale’ for rest of world, UN says
Data processing accounts for 21% of Irish electricity use – compared to just 4% in the US and 1% in China
Ireland’s reliance on US multinational tax take ‘poses risks’, European Commission warns
Corporate tax receipts from US companies well in excess of what could be explained by their domestic economic activity in Republic
EU plans energy standards for data centres amid concerns over soaring power use
EU data centre capacity is expected to more than double in the coming years
In a time of sky-high oil prices, should Ireland go nuclear?
Advocates say new, smaller reactors could deliver ‘abundant, cheap and clean power – the Holy Trinity’
Pope Leo’s encyclical on AI is a striking manifesto of Christian humanism
Rite and Reason: Magnifica Humanitas considers what it might mean to safeguard the best parts of being human in the time of artificial intelligence
Data centres raise cost-of-living questions State cannot ignore
Irish households need honest information about costs of corporate energy demand
SpaceX IPO prospectus raises more questions than answers
Roughly 90% of the touted $28.5tn ‘market opportunity’ pertains not to space but to AI and adjacent data-centre services
SSE grew Irish revenue by 36% last year despite losing customers
Company reported ‘an acceleration’ in development of data centres, with energy sold to the sector in Ireland trebling
Data-centre energy demand adds hundreds of euro to home electricity bills, study claims
Report draws criticism from representative body Digital Infrastructure Ireland, which says data centres ‘vital’
Failure to attract data centres ‘a threat to corporation tax revenues’
Multinationals looking elsewhere for data storage locations may transfer other key business out of Ireland, lobby group says
Data centre demands vs energy conservation
Becoming Europe’s server room comes at a very high price for Irish consumers
Food for thought on data centres and their demands
Irish taxpayers and consumers seem to be subsidising big companies
Ironic that data centres are contributing to job cuts in the world’s data centre capital
Ireland’s problem is not a lack of State planning, but rather planning that concentrates on making the country a profitable environment for foreign investment
Artificial intelligence spells a real climate disaster
Despite the tech industry’s efforts to squash concern about the devastating climate impacts of AI, resistance is growing
Caterpillar bulldozes into fresh ground as Dow’s unlikely AI darling
Company best known for its diggers has become attractive for its role in building out AI infrastructure
Ronan Kelly to take over as chief executive of Digital Infrastructure Ireland
Founder Gary Connolly stepped down recently and has told board of his intention to leave in September
Bubbling under: When Soviet spy subs turned out to be not-so-red herrings
In the 1980s and 1900s, Swedish sonar detected what sounded like submarines, but were actually flatulent fish
Dismantling of climate law will reduce scrutiny of large infrastructure projects
If a State body is seriously proposing to impact on the environment, it should have overriding public interest stitched in from the outset
Environmental groups granted leave to challenge data centre policy
High Court told new rules allowing data centres to use fossil fuel power breach climate law
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