Ireland's problem with data centers: managing technology growth and energy use.

Ireland welcomed big data centers but now they use a lot of electricity, more than all the homes in Ireland. This is a problem because Ireland's electricity mostly comes from burning fossil fuels, not good for the environment.

These data centers are owned by companies like Google and Amazon, they need a lot of power for their computers. Ireland gave them tax breaks to come, but now people are worried about high electricity bills and pollution.

The Irish government stopped new data centers near Dublin until 2028, they want the companies to find other places and use renewable energy. One company, Digital Realty, has a new data center ready but can't use it because it's not connected to the power grid yet.

Some people think data centers could be built in the Irish Midlands, a rural area with lots of wind farms. But this region has already suffered environmental damage from peat extraction, so people are cautious.

An activist named Darragh Adelaide, who was elected to local government, is fighting against more data centers near Dublin. He says they don't create many jobs and benefit the companies more than the local people.