Author Sally Rooney wrote about the climate crisis in The Irish Times last November, warning that “if fossil fuels keep burning at present rates, we are headed for apocalyptic civilisational collapse”. The novelist is now taking the fight to her own doorstep by objecting to a proposed data centre in her native Co Mayo.
Rooney said in her submission to Mayo County Council that she was writing “as a resident of County Mayo and a concerned citizen” about plans by Mayo Data Hub Ltd for a 36mW high-capacity data facility, extending to 29,076 sq m in Killala Business Park.
“Climate change represents an immediate and unprecedented threat to our way of life here in Mayo and to the future of human life around the world,” she wrote.
Rooney said that in 2023, data centres accounted for “21 per cent of Ireland’s total electricity usage – more than all urban households combined”.
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She said permission for the Mayo facility would increase carbon emissions and create a risk of blackouts. The author also questioned if the rapid growth of data centres had improved the quality of internet access in Ireland or if they were only needed to support the exponential growth of online advertising.
“Advertising, needless to say, is pointless,” she wrote.
“I urge you in the strongest possible terms to refuse planning permission for this wasteful, unnecessary and environmentally toxic proposal.”
Keeping Ireland’s military agile
When Tánaiste and Minister for Defence Micheál Martin announced record funding for the Defence Forces last year, he said Ireland needed an “agile military force”. The Defence Forces seem to have taken him at his word. Last year they spent almost €30,000 on Pilates classes.
Sarah MacLachlann, trading as Pilates Performance Ireland, was paid €27,440 to put on courses for Defence Forces physical training instructors, who will use what they learnt to teach downward dog and the bridge pose to recruits.
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The Defence Forces said there were many benefits to soldiers learning Pilates, from increasing strength to improving mental resilience. “For Defence Forces personnel, the core strength that is gained from Pilates is essential to carry heavy equipment, maintain balance in uneven terrains, and perform physically demanding tasks with reduced risk of strain or injury,” a spokesman said.
In fairness, when your organisation is chronically overstretched, becoming more flexible makes perfect sense. But for those of us who grew up watching hard-nosed drill instructors in movies, it’s difficult to imagine them finishing a boot camp session with namaste.
RTÉ man’s firm falls foul of Revenue
As an RTÉ board member, David Harvey, the former producer and presenter of Crimeline, is one of the people charged with keeping a beady eye on corporate governance at the public broadcaster. But he seems to have taken his eye off the finances at one of his own companies.
Last week Revenue filed two judgments totalling €14,723 against Hasbrook Media, a consultancy firm that is 100 per cent owned by the media executive, who has also served stints on the boards of the National Library of Ireland and the Irish Museum of Modern Art.
EU commissioner proves Cork is the rail capital
Michael McGrath has the lofty title of EU commissioner for democracy, justice, the rule of law and consumer protection. Last week he warned Elon Musk about using X to interfere in any forthcoming elections in Europe. But when it came to his first official lobbying meeting last month, McGrath had more local matters on his mind.
The former finance minister’s first declaration in his new role was at a meeting with Irish Rail in Cork where he discussed EU funding for the Cork Area Rail Programme with Irish Rail chief executive Jim Meade, as well as the forthcoming master plan for a European high speed rail network.
Ex-Unicorn couple still chasing planning permission
Four years ago Jeff Stokes and Pia Bang, the former owners of the Unicorn restaurant in Dublin, were refused planning permission to build two houses in the grounds of their home in Kilternan, Co Dublin.
The couple, who were given a €12 million debt write-off after their restaurant and property business went bang in 2017, had planned to sell the Mill House, a protected structure, and build two houses in its grounds – one for themselves and one for one of their twin sons.
The couple tried again last year, enlisting Dermot Bannon to design a single two-storey house in the grounds for themselves, but Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council again shot down the plans last week. The couple were told that the proposed house would “negatively impact on the unique character of the protected structure” and “set a poor precedent” for development beside a listed building.
Echoes of a another era
The role of Michael Lowry and the Healy-Raes in the formation of the new government brings back memories of Brian Cowen’s 2008 Coalition between Fianna Fáil, the Green Party and the Progressive Democrats, which was propped up by Lowry and Jackie Healy-Rae.
The deals extracted by Lowry and Healy-Rae snr from the then taoiseach were never published but some details eventually leaked out. One of the most eyebrow-raising claims was that the pair were given three State board nominations apiece in return for supporting Cowen’s government.
At the time Michael Healy-Rae was appointed to the Citizens Information Board and his barrister sister, Rosemary, was appointed to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal, although Michael has always denied the appointments were part of any deal.
Lowery openly admitted to securing appointments for colleagues and supporters, including PR woman Valerie O’Reilly who was given a role on the board of the National Transport Authority (NTA) at the time.
Lowry famously asked then taoiseach Enda Kenny to reappoint O’Reilly to the board of the NTA in 2015, passing him a leaked note stating that the PR executive was “a woman, bright, intelligent and not bad looking either”.
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