Contentious plans for a data centre in Co Mayo have been stalled after an appeal was lodged against the county council’s decision to approve the Mayo Data Hub Ltd plan.
The data centre on a site located 1.8km to the south of Killala and 10.5km to the north of Ballina will require 50MW average electrical power to operate.
Planning consultants John Spain Associates, for the applicants, said the proposed development “will attract complementary technology-based companies within the ICT sector and complementary industries to the west of Ireland which will provide for higher paying jobs and activate the local economy”.
The Spain report also notes that the electricity grid in the west of Ireland is currently unconstrained with sufficient capacity to accommodate the connection for the data centre.
It says the project “was in fact situated in this part of Ireland after consultation with EirGrid because this location is outside grid-constrained areas and in a region with a surplus of renewable power”.
However, one of the objectors to the plan – Colin Doyle from Station Rd, Ennis, Co Clare – has now lodged a third party appeal to An Bord Pleanála.
In his original objection to the proposal, Mr Doyle said his main concern was indirect greenhouse gas emissions generated by the data centre and the resulting impact on climate.
Bestselling author Sally Rooney, who was born in Castlebar and lives in Mayo, was also among the original objectors to the scheme, calling the data centre plan a “wasteful, unnecessary and environmentally toxic proposal”.
