Kildare Data Centre Awareness Group Taking Part In Protest This Weekend

Tuesday, 3 November 2026 at 14:16

By Daniel Maher

In Naas, Herbata Ltd and Microsoft have both proposed data centres for the area.

Some Kildare residents are set to travel to Dublin on Saturday 7 November to voice their opposition against new data centre developments across the country.

In Naas, Herbata Ltd and Microsoft have both proposed data centres for the area.

Planning permission had been granted for a €3 billion data centre campus by Herbata Ltd on a site adjacent to the M7 motorway and Naas Business Park, the land is estimated to be seven-times the area of Croke Park.

However, an appeal has been lodged against it, triggering a formal review process that is now before An Coimisiún Pleanála.

The zoned land, located at Jigginstown, was specifically zoned for data centre development under the Naas Local Area Plan 2021-2027.

There had been efforts by some councillors to overturn the decision to zone land in Naas exclusively for data centres, but that was rejected by KCC, as 22 Councillors voted against the motion, 11 voted in favour and seven abstained from the vote.

This weekend's demonstration - which is part of a European wide day of action on data centres - is being organised by Friends of the Earth Ireland in association with community groups.

To date over 101 groups from fifteen countries across Europe are participating.

Friends of the Earth Ireland says the proliferation of data centres is increasing energy bills and locking Ireland into a new generation of fossil fuels. Data centres now use 23% of all electricity in Ireland, a figure which is unprecedented globally.

Ireland was cited recently in a UN report on the environmental impact of runaway AI growth as a “cautionary tale”.