The dark side of Irish data centers
As Ireland grapples with data center energy demands, we ask if software developers can really benefit from virtual reality


It’s the last week before Christmas but while everyone else may be winding up for the festive season, the news never sleeps. In this episode of the ITPro Podcast, Jane is joined by news and analysis editor Ross Kelly to look back at some of the biggest stories from the month of December.
Included in this episode:
- The US charges 14 members of a North Korean IT worker scam
- Ireland has become a ‘data dumping ground’, says Friends of the Earth
- Is virtual reality the next frontier in software development?
Highlights
“Ireland has become a haven for a lot of big tech companies – Meta, Microsoft, Google – a lot of European operations for these big US tech companies [are] based in the Republic of Ireland. Essentially the big issue here is around the environmental impact and power grid capacity … electricity demand from data centers has grown annually by around 23% since 2015 so it's quite a significant surge. There is a steady uptick [and] data centers currently use around a fifth of the country's electricity supply.”
“Every so often we just get a new sector or a new job role where VR is going to, apparently, completely revolutionize how these people do their jobs and it's people working in manufacturing, or it's surgeons who can practice before they ever cut someone open in real life, or a pilot who can use a VR headset to do their simulations rather than just sitting in a pod. And I'm yet to see any of these really come to fruition … I just feel like VR to a great extent, and AR even more so, in some ways are a solution looking for a problem.”
“I think, more than anything, [the charges are] making a statement. The State Department, the FBI, CISA, they've been very upfront about the threat posed by fake IT workers and over the last couple of years taking a hard stance on this. Making it known that they're aware of it and that they're going to crack down on it, it might dissuade some individuals from getting involved in these types of schemes.”
Footnotes
- Cyber firm KnowBe4 unknowingly hired a North Korean hacker – and it went exactly as you might think
- Lawmakers clash over Irish data center industry growth amid environmental concerns
- UK warned about data center need, again
- “Significant concerns” raised over impact of data center growth on regional energy grids
- WWDC 2023: Will Apple’s Vision Pro be a VR game changer?
- Why 2024 won’t be the year of AR, VR or any kind of immersive tech
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Rory Bathgate is Features and Multimedia Editor at ITPro, overseeing all in-depth content and case studies. He can also be found co-hosting the ITPro Podcast with Jane McCallion, swapping a keyboard for a microphone to discuss the latest learnings with thought leaders from across the tech sector.
In his free time, Rory enjoys photography, video editing, and good science fiction. After graduating from the University of Kent with a BA in English and American Literature, Rory undertook an MA in Eighteenth-Century Studies at King’s College London. He joined ITPro in 2022 as a graduate, following four years in student journalism. You can contact Rory at rory.bathgate@futurenet.com or on LinkedIn.
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