Thousands to march in Dublin and Europe in opposition to Data Centres

Friends of the Earth Ireland says Government must put people before Big Tech

Communities from all over Ireland march in Dublin to demand an immediate moratorium on new data centres

Around two thousand campaigners and community groups from all over Ireland joined with politicians and Friends of the Earth Ireland in Dublin today (Saturday 7 November) to demand a moratorium on new data centres which they claim are driving up electricity bills, threatening energy security and undermining Ireland’s climate commitments.

Marching through Dublin city centre, they warned that communities cannot keep paying the price for Big Tech’s growing energy demands saying: “Enough is enough”.

Rosi Leonard, Data Centre Campaign Lead with Friends of the Earth Ireland, said:

“The huge turnout today from all over the country is a sign of huge concern over rapid data centre development, Today’s message to the Government is clear - put people before Big Tech. Households struggling with electricity bills should not be footing the cost of an industry whose appetite for power keeps growing.”

She added: “Data centres already consume almost a quarter of Ireland’s electricity. Allowing further expansion means piling pressure on our grid, increasing dependence on fossil fuels and making our climate targets harder to reach. A moratorium is urgently needed.”

Research commissioned by Friends of the Earth Ireland and Beyond Fossil Fuels estimated that data centre growth added €715 million to household electricity bills between 2015 and 2023.

Ms Leonard added: “Communities are right to demand answers about who benefits and who pays. Our electricity system must prioritise homes, essential services and a fair transition to clean energy.

“The Government must halt new data centres, place firm limits on the expansion of existing facilities and independently assess the risks to our energy and water systems. It cannot keep approving expansion and leave the public to pick up the bill.”

Today’s Dublin march formed part of a Europe-wide day of action against data centre expansion.

ENDS 

Notes

Comment from political, community and union leaders are available here: 

Labour Party TD, Ciarán Ahern, Climate Spokesperson and TD for Dublin South West: 

"A moratorium on new data centres is vital given the enormous pressure they are placing on our energy system, water system, household bills and climate targets. This government is beholden to big tech and has facilitated the rapid expansion of data centres here without any consideration of the costs of this to our society, our environment and our household budgets.”

“We have more than our fair share of data centres already and the UN is citing Ireland as a cautionary tale to the rest of the world. “

Deputy Paul Murphy, People Before Profit Dublin South-West TD:

"It was wrong that ordinary people are paying every day for the government prioritising Big Tech and their data centres. “Households have paid hundreds of euros extra in their bills because of Data Centres driving prices up. We will all pay dearly in terms of climate catastrophe for Data Centres eating up all of our added renewable capacity since 2017. It's time to call a halt." 

Hazel Chu, Deputy Leader of the Green Party:

"We need to ask who benefits from this expansion, who bears the environmental and infrastructural costs, and whether any of it is in the public's interest? Data Centres consume enormous amounts of water, ruins our environment, puts growing pressure on our national electricity grid, and is locking Ireland into greater fossil fuel dependence to meet rising energy demand."

Sinead Gibney, Social Democrats Dublin Rathdown TD:

"The introduction of data centres into Ireland has been poorly managed, to say the least. The call today to place a moratorium is a starting point. We also need to see greater transparency on not just energy usage, but also what these data centers are storing. Some data is being used for worthy goals but in Ireland there is no differentiation made between a data centre used for medical research data or one used by Israel to prop up their apartheid system in the occupied territories."

Dr. Elaine McGoff, Head of Advocacy, An Taisce:

"The unchecked expansion of data centres in Ireland is a serious concern in terms of the energy they need, the water they'll use and the impact they will have on our communities. It's time the Government began listening to the communities they claim to represent, because the concerns they are expressing are very well founded, and community resistance to these data centres is only going to increase. We're in a climate and biodiversity emergency.”

Jim Dullaghan, chair of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions Energy and Natural Resources Committee:

"There are now increasing question marks over the future revenue streams the use of AI will be able to generate to justify the huge investments planned in both existing and new Data Centres. Given all these issues, it would be appropriate for the Government to review its policy on supporting the expansion of new Data Centres to align this policy with the actual benefits versus the risk of creating speculative developments that will end up as stranded assets by trying to cater for excessive Data Centre developments that are already exposing Ireland to the risk of national power outages, higher electricity costs and fines for failing to meet emissions targets.”

Amanda Power, local campaigner, Kilmeadan Against Industrialisation in Waterford: 

“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.”

Martin Knox, local campaigner, Ennis Environmental Group in Clare:

“We're marching today because we are being asked to face a massive data centre of over 200MW, largely powered by fossil fuels with little to no benefit for the community. The Ennis data centre will emit up to 700,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas per year, matching the emissions from the entire agribusiness in Clare and doubling the electricity use of the entire county for one private development.  Profits made will be on the backs of the community with very few jobs in the long term, causing significant environmental and potential health problems.”

Niamh Fitzgibbon, local campaigner, Data Centre Awareness in Kildare:

“Lots of communities in Ireland and Europe are facing runaway large-scale data centre development but too often each community fights this alone. The same issues are showing up everywhere, from Kildare to the rest of the world. We’re standing together, and if our representatives won’t represent us, we’ll represent ourselves. Our community is being asked to pay the price for big tech’s profits. We take a lot of hope in seeing other communities around Ireland and Europe that are all facing the same thing getting organised.”

James Renaghan, local campaigner, Drogheda in Co Louth:

“People from Louth have joined today’s march to portray our rejection of plans to build a data centre next to the river Boyne in Drogheda. There is now an application to build a gas power plant at Tullyallen in Louth. Environmental damage and increased energy costs is what we will suffer while a small few benefit at the top pushing the AI and data centre agenda.”

Amy Dunnigan, from Not Here Not Anywhere:

"The Irish Government is leading the EU in the wrong direction by doubling-down on data centres. In the midst of a cost of living crisis, they’re driving up energy costs, and in the midst of a climate crisis they’re increasing our reliance on fossil fuels. We are protesting on behalf of the majority of people in Ireland who want the Government to ditch dirty data centres." 

Zoe Lawlor, Chairperson of the Irish Palestinian Solidarity Campaign:

"Big Tech companies have been to the fore in aiding Israel's genocide of Palestinians. From military tech to mass surveillance to AI target selection, the hands of the tech sector drip with Palestinian blood. We know that Microsoft has stored Israeli military data in Irish data centres; we don't know what other such data has been kept or channeled through Ireland, but we don't want our energy grid, the climate, or our own pockets to suffer so that genocidal Israel can murder more Palestinian kids. We call for a moratorium on new data centres, and for every one of these complicit companies to be held to account for their roles in unspeakable crimes against the Palestinian people."  

Vanessa Conroy,  National Women’s Council of Ireland:

"Data centres, in the middle of a cost of energy crisis, use up 23% of electricity in Ireland and their huge demand for energy pushes up our bills. Women are more susceptible to energy poverty, and bill increases hurt those already struggling the most - lone parent households headed by women, older women, disabled women and Traveller women. The National Women's Council (of Ireland) has and continues to call for a moratorium on data centres - our decision-makers should prioritise the onboarding of new housing and green transport to our energy grid over data centres."