There are two ways to look at the much-commented electricity consumption figures released by the CSO last week, showing that usage by data centres had surged to exceed 20 per cent of nationwide demand in 2023. The glass-half-empty reading of the figures considers that data-centre growth is adding to Ireland’s power generation needs, causing more pollution as the country’s overall energy usage increases. This approach results in pitting industrial policy (attracting more inward investment by multinationals such as those running data centres) against environmental policy (reducing greenhouse gas emissions). Yet the glass-half-full reader of the CSO figures will compare them…