While the government cosies up to big tech billionaires, ordinary people are paying the price. Data centres are sucking up nearly a quarter of Ireland’s energy, driving up household electricity bills, sucking up precious water supplies, and disrupting local communities.
It’s time to fight back and force this government to deliver for people, not big tech bosses.
This page has all the information you need on how to take action, resources for local communities fighting data centres in their neighbourhoods, and answers to your most frequently asked questions.
Something you think is missing? Send us an email at [email protected]
Day of Action: November 7
Take action
Sign the petition
Call on the government to urgently rein in the growth of data centres by reinstating a moratorium.
Local campaigns
Data Centre Awareness Kildare
Local campaigns
Community groups across Ireland are leading a big protest in Dublin to oppose data centres, as part of a big Europe-wide day of action. Find out more from Friends of the Earth by clicking below.
FAQ
- How many data centres are in Ireland?
There are roughly 107 data centres operating in Ireland, with another 9 under construction and 43 going through planning approval. The vast majority of data centres are clustered around Dublin, including Kildare and surrounding towns. This places a huge strain on Dublin’s energy and water supply.
- How much energy do data centres use?
Data centres use a huge amount of Ireland’s energy – a whopping 23%, and if data centres are allowed to keep expanding, this is projected to grow to 31% by 2035. This doesn’t just place a huge strain on our energy grid, it also drives up energy bills for people. Research shows households in Ireland paid €715 million more in electricity bills between 2015 and 2023 to subsidise the huge growth in data centres.
Data centres also pay less for electricity than households, while sucking up the majority of clean, cheap energy that’s generated by solar and wind in Ireland.
- How much water do data centres use?
Ireland’s data centres can use more than 5 million litres of public drinking water a day. What’s worse, while households were being forced to conserve water in summer, the water consumption of data centres doubled. A new report estimated that data centres used as much water as 340,600 homes in 2025.
However, thanks to lobbying from big tech companies to hide their environmental impact from the public, we don’t know the true extent of how much water these data centres are consuming.
- What would a moratorium on data centres do?
A moratorium would stop any new development, and give time for this government to actually address the multiple harms that data centres are causing in our communities including: increasing our reliance on expensive gas, which is pushing up people’s energy bills; disrupting communities with relentless noise; making it difficult to connect houses to the electricity grid; and sucking up huge amounts of water.
It’s been done before – between 2021 and 2025 Ireland had a moratorium on data centres, but this was lifted after lobbying from big tech CEOs. It’s also gaining momentum in other countries. In September 2026, Scotland voted for a temporary freeze on new development, and in July 2026 New York imposed a one-year moratorium.
