We are all responsible for the growth of data centres
Time to consider our digital footprints and ways to declutter our online lives
Data centres
It’s inflation, stupid: Trump faces the wrath of US voters
Midterm elections next week are a referendum on the unpopular US president. They could herald the end of ‘The Donald’ era
‘People are frightened’: The tiny Scottish village fighting plans for one of Europe’s largest data centres
A community of 600 people is fighting a hyperscale AI project that would be larger than the village itself
US company has option to buy Kildare data centre
Developer of planned data centre says deal only involves use of energy technology
Spending on data centre fit-outs fuelling economic growth, claims AIB
Bank says Irish economy to grow at ‘solid’ 3.8% this year despite concerns over possible 5% peak inflation
TikTok’s Irish arm cuts headcount by 600 as legal provisions rise to more than €900m
Social media company’s staff costs fell by 10% last year while pay to three Irish-based directors rose 12% to top €900,000
Microsoft offers redundancy to 60,000 of its 223,000 staff
Tech giant moves to control costs and it spends up to $175bn on AI infrastructure this year
Jones Engineering eyes record €1.9bn turnover on back of data centre boom
Irish contractor specialises in large-scale engineering projects for tech and life sciences sectors
Was that a stock market wobble, or the start of something more serious?
Markets becoming nervous about the scale of borrowing by ‘hyperscalers’
Ireland still relies on fossil fuel for almost 80% of energy as demand rises
Increasing flights, traffic and data centre expansion complicating efforts to switch from carbon-polluting fuels
Complacency led to energy squeeze in Republic, conference told
Data centre industry conference hears of planned electricity grid investment
Data centres plan in Co Waterford refused planning permission after backlash
Loss of Kilmeaden’s ‘village character’ would be contrary to local development plans, Waterford City and County Council says
Data centre policies risk decline in tech industry
Lobbyist says “stroke of a pen” could solve problems
Did the internet really get less toxic after Russian data centres went down?
A viral theory that online discourse went quiet after Ukrainian drone attacks tells us something about our confidence in data security
‘Nobody ate, nobody drank’: Inside the strange culture of San Francisco’s AI boom
Soaring wealth, rising rents and widening social divides are changing the city again
Ireland can capture the AI dividend while mitigating the risks
The IDA’s role is to work with the 1,800 multinationals already here to expand their mandates and attract the next generation of AI investment
Message from the Editor: Ireland’s data centre revolt
IT Sunday: Ireland has been an enthusiastic host of data centres, but the story of one Co Waterford village shows there are stirrings of local dissent
The village fighting a data centre: ‘The country has been sold out to big tech’
A proposed new development in Kilmeaden village in Co Waterford has got local residents asking pointed questions including: who are data centres good for, and at what cost?
‘Big tech’s lapdog’: how can Ireland break free from the sector’s malign influence?
Resisting data centre sprawl can be a key step in ending the outsize influence of tech firms
AI will not bring about ‘displacement’ in public service, says Taoiseach
Martin urges critics of technology to focus on positives as he announces new forum on workplace effects
AI systems should adopt safety lessons from nuclear industry
Balance needs to be struck between regulation and opportunity, Google DeepMind chair says
Mark Zuckerberg says Meta has reached AI ‘frontier’
Company is committed to further vast spending to challenge rivals
Supreme Court rejects application to appeal plan for data centre in Ennis
Development of data centre in Co Clare had been approved by An Coimisiún Pleanála in 2024
No, you don’t need AI to read your child a bedtime story
Sam Altman’s self-satisfaction about utilising an LLM to raise his child wouldn’t even make the top 20 of his all-time nonsense
Labour holds on to Starmer’s seat as Polanski and Greens lose sheen
Greens have been on the slide in polls since Polanski became the target of intense media scrutiny
Are we building offshore wind farms to save our planet or to power data centres?
Costs of renewable energy justified when it cuts emissions, less so if main beneficiary is industrial growth
Should we pause data centre development? Lynn Boylan debates Malcolm Byrne
Our electricity grid is under pressure, leading to calls for a moratorium on data centres
New data centres designed for AI ‘require power in excess of that used by 100,000 homes’
Oireachtas committee hears projections suggest installations to account for about 35% of electricity demand by 2035
Data centre protesters vow to fight on as Kildare County Council rejects zoning motions
Certain land in Kildare, including sites in Naas, was zoned exclusively for data centres under the Local Area Plan 2021-2027
Google wins planning permission for Dublin data centre extension
An Coimisiún Pleanala backs development at Grange Castle site
We need more data on data centres, not spin
Lack of concrete data on contribution of data centres to Ireland leaves debate open to spin
The Irish Times view on data centres: a rift between voters and Government
Current policy deserves more rigorous scrutiny from Opposition and civil society
How Ireland feels about data-centre construction revealed in new Irish Times poll
More than two-thirds of respondents say they support Ireland’s ‘current model of neutrality’
Naomi Klein: The super rich need to be abolished and ‘prescribed a middle-class life’
End Times Fascism by noted author and her collaborator Astra Taylor contains a hopeful prescription for neighbourly resistance
The town carrying Britain’s AI dream is starting to revolt
Slough is Europe’s ‘data centre alley’ but some locals are opposed to intensity of development
The data centre dilemma: AI growth and Ireland’s energy needs
Top 1000: Data centres underpin Ireland’s digital economy and ambitions for AI growth, but the sector’s energy demands must be aligned with climate targets
Accenture reports earnings of $93bn in Ireland, more than Apple and Microsoft combined
EU rules shed light on scale of Accenture, News Corp and Digital Realty Irish operations
Data centres ‘may have used as much water’ last year in Ireland as more than 340,000 homes
New research highlights poverty of information about energy-intensive sector’s footprint
If we don’t listen to the science on climate change, can we at least hear its victims?
The stories of people whose lives, livelihoods and cultures have been destroyed should resonate clearly with Ireland’s famine past
US and China agree to extend trade truce as Xi Jinping arrives in Washington
Issues such as the race in AI development and geopolitical instability loom
Large-scale Dublin 15 site zoned for high-technology development guiding at €16.5m
Lands at Tyrellstown primed for range of uses including data centre, pharmaceutical and life sciences
Households ‘put on the hook’ for cost of data centre expansion to electricity grid
Irish consumers pay disproportionately more for electricity than large data centres, report suggests
Data centre expansion ‘a runaway train taking Ireland away from climate targets’
Friends of the Earth calls for freeze on data centres being built and regulation ‘for the public good’
Mark Little: ‘Protests against data centres is the biggest wave of civic activism since the 1960s’
The broadcaster turned entrepreneur on messianic tech billionaires, and his new book tracking his journey from tech-optimism to disillusionment to a new cautious hope
‘A lot of ’em can’t even spell AI’: The technology-extinction debate convulses America
An insider’s warning about the power of AI has triggered a spectacular debate in the US
Data centre opposed by author Sally Rooney has planning overturned on climate concerns
US firm had chosen Mayo because of electricity constraints around Dublin
Tenth of Irish renewable electricity lost in 2025 due to grid constraints
Electricity demand rise driven primarily by 9% increase in demand from large energy users including data centres
Donald Trump says attempts to limit artificial intelligence are part of ‘sick conspiracy’
US president says he is only ‘guardrail’ needed to control AI despite growing alarm over the technology
Do data centres pay their own way? The answer is not straightforward
Data centres impose massive costs on the power system, of that there is no doubt – but do they pay enough to cover their costs?
Greens call for €2.5bn to fund solar panels in homes and for ‘targeted’ energy credits
At Dublin think-in the party calls for 1 per cent levy on electricity use in data centres
Data centres and the LNG terminal
Terminal comes despite the severe climate, environmental and public health impacts of LNG
The Irish Times view on data centres: a storm is gathering
If the Government parties wish to avoid a painful reckoning, a radical rethink is required
Crosswords & Puzzles
Crosswords & puzzles to keep you challenged and entertained
Stardust
Inquests into the nightclub fire that led to the deaths of 48 people
Common Ground
How does a post-Brexit world shape the identity and relationship of these islands
Family NoticesOpens in new window
Weddings, Births, Deaths and other family notices