Job creation, housing, and much needed investment and rejuvenation of St Patrick's street

A proposed Datacenter bid on the Premier Periclase in Drogheda site faces a bid by Ireland’s National Trust An Taisce to block the development. While many Louth County Councillors in Drogheda have labeled An Taisce’s bid as “reckless and irresponsible”, People Before Profit stands with their complaint. An Taisce’s objection was noted to span a variety of concerns including the vast energy consumption of data centers, potential carbon emissions, potential impact on constrained local water supplies. Electricity prices in the Republic of Ireland are over 60% above the EU average, making our bills some of the highest in the world. Because of heavy subsidisation which falls back on the taxpayer, households in Ireland are paying almost twice as much for their electricity as data centres themselves. At the same time as costs go through the roof, data centres are consuming more and more of our grid capacity, with approximately 22% of overall energy spent on data centres in 2024. This figure is constantly rising, and is expected to rise to more than 30% before the end of the decade, where the grid will struggle to meet demands. This means that emissions ‘reductions’ through new renewable energy infrastructure are cancelled out by increased demand.  During a heightened cost of energy crisis, the government’s weak measure reductions are not enough.  A few cents off fuel isn’t enough. We need price controls on fuel, energy, basic groceries, plus a €500 energy credit to put money back in people’s pockets.  While an increase of data centres and a decrease in day-to-day affordability are clearly interconnected, such rapid changes will impact working people in more ways than living costs alone. The AI software that data centres power will inevitably create unemployment by outsourcing labour to emergent machinery. For local Sinn Féin and Labour councillors, who claim to be parties of the left opposition, to support a development that will directly contribute to both the affordability crisis and climate crisis suggests a lack of political direction at a time when we need it most. The Irish government, Labour and Sinn Féin know this, yet they are encouraging us to quietly accept the inevitable harms they'll cause to working people. There is no discussion anywhere with ordinary people about shaping and directing this technology, in keeping with a project of green transition, for the betterment of society. The government’s designation of parts of the River Boyne as ‘heavily modified’ could allow a proposed data centre to harm the river’s water quality, raising concerns that potential environmental impacts may not be properly assessed or managed. The Irish people will suffer from the proliferation of data centers, while the rich will profit from them. Local councillors endorsing the proposed Datacenter bid on the Premier Periclase site is short-term opportunism at best. It will provide no answer to the current crises we're facing, and in the long-term, will make things worse. Another data centre is another cost onto the ordinary person! We demand: • Levy existing data centres to fund a €500 energy credit for households • Price controls on fuel,energy and basic groceries • Moratorium on new data centres 

This week I came across posts from working families in Ireland that genuinely stopped me in my tracks. A nurse with two children and a full-time working husband unable to afford heating oil or groceries. A Garda family with five children struggling to make ends meet despite both parents working. These are not people who aren’t trying—these are essential workers doing everything right, yet still falling behind. Something is clearly broken when full-time working families in Ireland cannot afford basic necessities like heat and food. This is no longer a rare situation—it is becoming the reality for more and more households across the country.

St. Patrick's Day is Ireland's most important national and cultural celebration, recognised globally.  Establishing a fixed annual long weekend would: • Enable greater participation in parades, cultural events and community celebrations • Support tourism, hospitality, and local economies across the country • Provide a consistent national holiday structure This change would preserve the cultural, historical and religious significance of the 17th of March while improving how the public holiday is observed for the benefit of society and the economy.

 The farmer's involved are getting a tiny proportion of the profit margins involved even though they supply the vital component to make the beer.

People should support the IWU Healthcare Assistants' strike in Ireland because these essential workers are fighting for fair pay, decent conditions, and recognition, highlighting systemic underfunding that impacts vulnerable patients; supporting them means ensuring quality care by retaining experienced staff and addressing issues like low pay, heavy workloads, and broken promises that lead to burnout and turnover, which ultimately benefits the entire community, especially the elderly and disabled who rely on their vital home support. 

Donald Trump, owner of Doonbeg where the 2026 Irish Open is taking place, is out of control. His warmongering, illegal actions, lying, global bullying and misogyny (to name just a few) has gone too far.  While moving the Irish Open from Doonbeg is but a small action, it is one that must be taken to show him that we will not put up with him and his bullying. I ask you all to look at one of the many other gorgeous locations across Ireland that can host the Irish Open in 2026, and take this money-making competition away from him. 

Reduce traffic congestion and encourage use of public transport 

Many asylum seekers are already part of our communities. They work in essential sectors, pay taxes, support local businesses, and contribute to Irish society, yet they remain in long-term uncertainty about their future. Regularising long-term contributors would strengthen communities, help address labour shortages, increase tax compliance, and reflect Ireland’s values of fairness, dignity, and compassion. These individuals are our co-workers and neighbours, and they deserve the chance to fully integrate and build stable lives in the country they now call home.

Cost of living 

 Public housing is the foundation of a fair city. Every tenant — every person — has a right to a warm, safe, affordable home. The proposed overhaul of the differential rent scheme would mean rent increases for almost all of the city’s 68,000 council tenants,  with some families facing hikes of close to 40%, amounting to hundreds of euro every month. These blanket increases would hit everyone - tenants in new, A-rated homes and those living in old, cold, damp flats alike.  Council tenants didn’t create the housing maintenance funding gap. It’s the result of decades of government underfunding of local authorities and the refusal to invest in public housing. Now, instead of properly funding our council to carry out repairs and maintenance, management want tenants to pay the price. This is happening in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, where: • Over 300,000 nationally were in arrears on their electricity bills and 175,000 were in arrears on their gas bills.  • Grocery and heating costs are rising every month, and • Families across the city are already at breaking point. Working-class tenants cannot and should not be made to pay more for housing that is often substandard! No Way Wont Pay!

Some students don’t need more motivation. They just need a meal. Right now across Ireland, too many students are studying hungry, skipping meals to pay rent or travel to class. Hunger isn’t just physical. It drains focus, energy, and hope. When we feed students, we’re not just helping them survive college. We’re helping them show up fully, to learn, lead, and become who they’re meant to be. This is why we’re building Crave Christi Student Sponsorship, to make sure no student is left behind because of an empty plate. Join us in turning compassion into action. Together, we can make student hunger impossible to ignore. Because hunger shouldn’t be part of the college experience. Not here. Not now.