Waterford residents will join thousands of people all over Ireland in Dublin this Saturday, 7 November to voice their opposition against new big data centre developments.
The demonstration, which starts at 12 noon from the Garden of Remembrance in Dublin, is part of a European wide day of action on data centres – is being organised by Friends of the Earth Ireland in association with community groups. To date over 85 groups from ten countries across Europe are participating.
Friends of the Earth Ireland says the proliferation of data centres is increasing energy bills and locking Ireland into a new generation of fossil fuels. Data centres now use 23% of all electricity in Ireland, a figure which is unprecedented globally. Ireland was cited recently in a UN report on the environmental impact of runaway AI growth as a “cautionary tale”.
In Kilmeaden, Co. Waterford, planning permission has been rejected for a proposed data centre on the site of the former Kilmeaden cheese factory site and its adjoining lands. Alongside three data centres, a solar farm with more than 43,000 panels and an energy centre building with 16 gas-powered turbines, two apartment buildings comprising 48 apartments, offices, a community centre, gym, supermarket and a childcare facility were proposed.
The planning application stated that the proposed development would “provide for a mixed-use village centre, technology park, and renewable energy development on a total site area of 108.79 hectares”.
However, local residents and farmers raised concerns about potential air quality impacts, increased demand for electricity and water resources, land use and lack of local jobs. Despite coming with renewables, the proposed scale of the development meant that by the developers’ own calculations the planned solar farm would only account for 2% of the data centres’ energy needs.
Amanda Power from Kilmeaden commented: “Even though the data centre application in Kilmeaden has been refused, it could still be appealed, and our fight isn’t over. If a development of this size and scale can be proposed for a small rural village like ours, then no community in Ireland is safe from facing the same situation. That’s why we’re calling for a national moratorium on new data centres until proper rules are put in place about where they can be built, how many we need, and whether our infrastructure can support them.”
Rosi Leonard, Data Centre Campaign lead for Friends of the Earth Ireland said: “New data centres pose a threat to energy security, climate goals, clean energy targets, affordability, and demand for new fossil fuels. We’re proud to join other countries and communities who are all asking the same question as us: who benefits from massive data centre build out, and who pays the price?”
She added: “A moratorium on new data centres in Ireland should be common sense; they are increasing our energy bills, they are locking us into a new generation of fossil fuels, and workers’ rights are being undermined more and more by expensive gambles on AI.”
