Does Irish Water even know how much water data centres are using?
Much of the debate around data centres has focused on electricity, but the gap in figures for their water use has started to draw more attention – and breed mistrust.
“I suppose now we are at a little bit of an impasse,” said Declan Ryan, a senior executive officer at Fingal County Council.
The not-for-profit leisure club had to close its swimming pool in March, because of structural issues.
Construction is expected to start early next year, said a Fingal County Council official on Monday.
“Obviously swimming is a life-saving skill, so unless it is reopened, I don’t know where all those schools are gonna go.”
The council closed the pool after its roof was damaged in Storm Darragh in December 2024. In January, it put out a tender to fix the roof.
Dublin City Council says it’s not, but other councils have managed it elsewhere.
“The plan is that the new centre in Irishtown will be fully completed before the Markievicz centre closes” in Townsend Street, a council official said.
“Unlike many people on the continent, Dubliners love to go for a swim at any time of the year – no matter how cold it is.”
While the Land Development Agency is expected to start work on the site next year, Fingal County Council is trailing with the pool.
Councillors said this would leave a gap in services for this part of the south inner-city. “Irishtown’s gain is Pearse Street’s loss.”
But councillors at a meeting of their Central Area Committee had big questions about where the idea had originated, and drilled down into some of the detail.
While taking my daily dip one recent morning, a printed notice pinned to the wall caught my attention: “This is a dryrobe free area”, it read.