Pros & Cons Of Data Centres In Ireland

IRELAND has become the premier location for the world’s leading tech companies to plonk a data centre in, but is this a good thing for the country? WWN weighs up the pros and cons:

Pro: There will be some work for builders who would otherwise face unemployment in Ireland as there is no other demand for buildings of any other types currently.

Con: Ireland won’t meet any of its climate targets.

Pro: It does provide a small amount of employment in the short term.

Con: It does provide a large amount of environmental damage in the short, medium and long term.

Pro: Data centres are vitally important in this era of online business and data storage.

Con: We’re only one click of an intern’s mouse away from deleting the whole thing.

Pro: Ireland is one of just two countries with a climate uniquely suited to housing data centres, meaning politicians have big multinationals wishing to build them here by the balls and can secure all manner of commitments to help offset emissions and demand put on the electricity grid by the centres.

Con: These are Irish politicians we’re talking about.

Pro: Data centres can be used to cover over otherwise useless land, such as Longford.

Pro: Becoming home to the storage of the world’s data makes Ireland a country of huge importance and influence.

Con: The Irish security forces tasked with securing such facilities are no match for Russian spies.

Pro: The excessive heat generated by the centres can be rerouted and used to heat residential homes.

Con: This is being sold as some of amazing innovation we should be grateful for whereas in reality such things have been possible for 40 plus years.

Pro: If one is located near the airport there is the possibility of tricking the government into building a Metrolink to it.