An Irish Energy Narratives in the Transition Project
By Dr. Treasa De Loughry
The Irish Energy Narratives in the Transition project (an Earth Institute Strategic Priority Support Mechanism funded project, 2023-25) brings together scholars and communities interested in narratives of just transitions, to probe how energy shifts are being narrated by organising community mapping workshops at three sites of energy transition in rural and urban Ireland: Kilrush, Co. Clare (the shift from coal at Moneypoint to renewable energy storage), West Dublin (fossil fuels and emergent renewable infrastructures tied up with data centres), and Clifden, Co. Galway (fossil fuels and wind energy). MESSAGE provided funding for the third and final community mapping workshop in the series to take place in Clifden Town Hall,Connemara on the 8th of November 2025.
Setting up for the workshop at Clifden Town Hall, 8 November 2025, Treasa De
Loughry
We chose Clifden due to its proximity, on the Western Atlantic seaboard, to the recently cancelled Sceirde Rocks offshore windfarm scheme - a 450 megawatt, 30 turbine offshore wind project development of up to 325 meters in height. But it is also home to the first regular transatlantic radio transmission station in Derrigimlagh Bog, where Guglielmo Marconi established one of the pivotal telecommunications infrastructures of his global radio empire in the early-1900s. Utilising turf cut from the local bog to power this advanced technological apparatus, this site is especially significant because the Irish government’s renewable energy transition is closely bound up with the country’s digital transition. Ireland’s historical business strategies and its concomitant hosting of multinational data centres in Dublin have cemented its position as a hub for digital industries. For the Government energy transition and industrial growth are promised to go hand-in-hand, or a “twin transition” strategy or “digitalisation and decarbonisation”.
However, the impacts of the twin transition - and what has prompted it, climate change - are felt unevenly across Connemara and Dublin. The west experiences the brunt of the impact of Atlantic storm systems, which are increasing in severity due to climate change. Notably, Connemara already experiences strong winds and waves, making it susceptible to storm damage. In particular, the Sceirde Rocks, site of the planned eponymous wind farm, are off the coast of Carna and the “Iorras Aintheach” peninsula, which is Irish for the “Windy Peninsula”. Unsurprisingly then, the windfarm scheme was cancelled following the measurement of very high windspeeds and wave heights, making near-shore wind turbines in this area untenable.
Driving from Galway City to Clifden, 8 November 2025, Treasa De Loughry
Throughout our conversation on 8th November, we discussed how the impact of high winds on under serviced infrastructure structured the lived experience of climate change in Connemara. During Storm Éowyn downed electricity and telecommunications poles, and a lack of wifi and mobile networks, caused disruption for weeks. Discussion noted that electrified houses (generally the most modern or newly retrofitted houses) fared poorly in the storm – but if electrification is to expand, then climate resilience must be central to infrastructural development. This may mean more dispersed forms of renewable energy or community based energy schemes, consideration of mixed energy sources (back up generators for example), the introduction of more batteries, and perhaps the inclusion of marine energy (while still in experimental stages). The group and facilitators noted that the current plans were for energy from the Sceirde Rocks scheme to go south for storage at Moneypoint and to power other communities and industries during Ireland’s current push for artificial intelligence (AI) capacity, largely expressed in the form of data centres. And in tandem with accounts of failing infrastructure were discussions around housing – it is challenging to get planning permission for housing in the west of Ireland, often due to ecological reasons. But the windfarm did not seem subject to such stringent planning concerns.
Storm Éowyn hits Ireland, 24 January 2025
Attribution: Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2025
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Storm_%C3%89owyn_hits_Ireland_(Copern
icus_2025-01-27).png
Members of the community stated that they wished for nature to be recentered in conversations about the energy transition, rather than being sacrificed for development – while still desiring the development of energy infrastructure that will support the local community, social good, and wider environmental policies and goals at the same time. These are complex but necessary demands. There is hope for the potential of the new Maritime Area Regulatory Authority (MARA), and the upcoming Nature Restoration Plan. This is a community that stays
in Connemara in spite of underinvestment in jobs, housing, infrastructure, and the Irish language. They wish to see it thrive, and they are not short on ideas as to how to put this into action. These ideas need to be listened to, re-centred, and taken seriously in energy transition policy.
Community Annotated Map in Clifden Library, 8th November 2025, by Treasa De Loughry.
The IENARR team includes Dr Patrick Brodie, Dr Tomas Buitendijk, Dr Treasa De Loughry, Rosie O’Reilly, Dr Zoe O’Reilly, and with additional research assistant support from Emma Millet.
This workshop was funded by MESSAGE, the Marine & Energy Social Sciences & Humanities Interdisciplinary Research Group at University College Dublin and the Marine Institute Networking Marine Research Communication Award.