The growth of Ireland’s data centre industry has prompted more than a little vexation in recent time but could they be a knight in shining armour for green energy transition? A new report would have us think so. According to Cloud Infrastructure Ireland (CII), the Ibec linked organisation that lobbies for the sector, data centres could gobble up much of the energy supplied by offshore wind farms and, in offering to do so, would encourage financial investment in their development. Barry O’Halloran has a look at the document.

It’s been cold outside and if you haven’t felt it, the electricity grid has. EirGrid, which runs the infrastructure, reported a new record in use on Wednesday amid plummeting temperatures and rocketing demand. And despite more energy security this year, that record is likely to be broken again given there are more businesses that use large quantities of electricity, including data centres. Barry O’Halloran explains.

The winter season brings another chill factor too. With Black Friday and Cyber Monday around the corner, retailers will not be happy to hear that shoppers are going cold on their offers. Is the deal real? Are they likely to investigate purchases before they buy them? The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC), which has carried out research ahead of what is traditionally a big pre-Christmas sales window, has found diminishing interest, not to mention trust. That said, those who will go out to splash the cash, will splash a bit more than last year. Conor Pope has the details.