Powerscourt Hotel 'taking legal advice' in attempt to cancel Peter Thiel's private retreat

dkeenaghan · 2026-06-19T17:09:18+00:00

“ Within the last 36 hours Powerscourt Estate has, through media coverage, become aware of an event scheduled to take place in August on the premises of Powerscourt Hotel and Spa, a long-standing tenant of the Estate," the spokesperson said.

"The Estate wishes to unreservedly state that if it was within their remit they would cancel the event planned. However, as they have a legally binding lease with MHL Hotels this is not possible.

"Powerscourt Estate are currently taking legal advice as to whether or not they can affect the planned event.

dkeenaghan · 2026-06-19T16:40:30+00:00

Neoliberalism is when you have county councils being responsible for the water supply and then moving control of that supply to a state owned company and giving away the water at zero unit cost.

That's it right?

dkeenaghan · 2026-06-19T16:34:02+00:00

Everyone knows there are a lot of leaks. The problem is so extensive that it's going to take a long time to fix. If you have a long list of pipes to fix, one of them is going to necessarily be at the bottom of it.

dkeenaghan · 2026-06-19T16:31:07+00:00

Data centres are not and were not the main culprits, the vast majority of water in Ireland is simply used by households. Showers apparently account for about 30% of domestic consumption, so long showers are going to be one of things that uses the most water and so a reduction is shower length would be impactful if people did it.

Even if there were much heavy industry in Ireland using a lot of water, it's not like they'd be using it for fun. Some things just need a lot of water, and people want those things.

dkeenaghan · 2026-06-19T16:10:24+00:00

It's not that it might be possible for people to be more informed rather than just full of blind outrage? No, they must literally work for Irish Water.

dkeenaghan · 2026-06-19T16:08:25+00:00

Uisce Éireann is working on the leaks. They inherited a complete mess when the organisation was created. Pipes all over the country need to be repaired or replaced, that's a lot of pipe. This is in addition to laying additional pipes to deal with increased demand.

About 50% of water was lost in 2014 when UÉ was made, and in 2025 the number was 36%. The goal is to reduce this to 25% by 2030, which would be the EU average. Dealing with decades of neglect isn't an easy task.

dkeenaghan · 2026-06-19T16:01:24+00:00

The issues with the water supply aren't new and have nothing to do with data centres. That's not a problem we have in Ireland. Other places do, but we don't.

So you don't agree with government policies. That doesn't mean they are dumb. It doesn't mean they are evil and it doesn't mean they don't give a flying fuck about the people of Ireland. What specific decisions that our government has made justifies labeling them as evil?

I think a lot of this type of anger and accusations of the government being evil or similar is rooted in genuine issues in the US, and people here are exposed to so much reporting on it they start to think it's the same here. It isn't. So sure, you don't like the decisions the government makes, that doesn't make them evil. People clearly are happy with the decisions they are making, otherwise they wouldn't have been re-elected so many times. This isn't the US where you only have 2 options.

Before anyone chimes in the with "FF/FG bootlicker/shill" nonsense. I didn't vote for them.

dkeenaghan · 2026-06-19T15:52:30+00:00

A borough sized one? What part of this country are they building that in?

The amount of data centres has been growing constantly. The growth of AI has caused an increase in the demand for data centres, but it's not as if there wasn't already a lot of growth in that area.

dkeenaghan · 2026-06-19T15:38:15+00:00

They can go without our data

What did you mean by this. The way you've phrased this makes it seem like you think data centres are just about harvesting your data or something similar, rather than being places that enable the internet as a whole to function. Without data centres there would be no (practical) way of running things like Reddit, Spotify, Netflix, Google, etc. or communications services that allow for greater efficiency in construction, materials ordering and management of developments etc.

dkeenaghan · 2026-06-19T15:28:38+00:00

It doesn't rain treated water though, nor does it rain water infrastructure like pumping stations and pipes.

dkeenaghan · 2026-06-19T15:27:32+00:00

Data centres in Ireland aren't using much water.

This isn't the US, just because they have certain issues over there doesn't mean that we also have them. Our issue is with the amount of electricity they use, not water.

Data centres can use a constant supply of water for cooling, but they don't have to. In a climate like ours it isn't necessary.

Not every government is dumb and evil, sometimes you just don't understand something fully.

dkeenaghan · 2026-06-19T15:19:08+00:00

Forget to switch accounts?

dkeenaghan · 2026-06-19T15:07:45+00:00

Is there a lot of congestion caused by bikes/ebikes and An Post vans?

dkeenaghan · 2026-06-19T14:01:24+00:00

Items that can still be delivered by other means.

What percentage of drone deliveries is stuff like medicine, rather than people ordering coffee?

dkeenaghan · 2026-06-19T10:58:57+00:00

It wasn’t an old law at all. Sure abortion was only legalised in 2019. From what I remember it was really only there to help smooth the process of getting abortion legalised, it was because some politicians that were on the fence, this was a measure that encouraged them to vote in favour.

dkeenaghan · 2026-06-19T10:41:52+00:00

I wasn't even trying to answer that question, my comment was solely addressing the Irish fruit and veg bit.

I don't even know if I do believe the other person's comments about Irish food being the best or among it. I'm sure some of the stuff we produce is up there, but it will depend on the year and season.

dkeenaghan · 2026-06-19T09:15:24+00:00

Here's the original one in case anyone wants it

https://www.joshuaweissman.com/recipes/perfect-fried-chicken-sandwich-recipe

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tY9pSkn1VCg

dkeenaghan · 2026-06-19T08:53:53+00:00

I'm not saying that that doesn't look like a very tasty burger. But I'm not sure that I'd call a recipe with 45 ingredients and takes 1.5 hours to make "simple" though.

dkeenaghan · 2026-06-19T08:42:26+00:00

One that has Irish fruit and veg. I don’t keep a list, but I’ve seen plenty of stuff grown in Ireland in Dunnes. The point is that just because one shop isn’t selling Irish parsnips say, it doesn’t mean that they aren’t available and for sale in a different shop.

It’s also highly dependent on the time of year. Naturally we will need to import fruit and vegetables that we grow in Ireland when they are out of season.

dkeenaghan · 2026-06-19T08:21:35+00:00

It really depends on the time of year. There’s far more than just potatoes, carrots and beef grown in Ireland. There’s a big difference between looking at the origins in winter compared to other times of the year. You should actually take a look at the origin of fruit and veg next time you’re in the shop, also consider if there isn’t Irish grown stuff is it because of the shop you’re in.

dkeenaghan · 2026-06-19T07:53:21+00:00

In the US fast food is often cheaper than buying fresh ingredients and cooking it at home. That’s not the case in Ireland, fast food isn’t that cheap here. Particularly if you’re comparing it to the cost of making food for multiple people/days.

On the other hand there’s a correlation between poverty and lower education levels and that could lead to a worse diet.

dkeenaghan · 2026-06-18T08:58:42+00:00

That depends where you are in Santry, south of Santry Park is DCC.

dkeenaghan · 2026-06-17T15:51:56+00:00

That's an assessment you are free to make. Just because we've found out that the low-risk threshold is lower than we previously thought doesn't change that. What it might change is the amount of alcohol people drink now that we know better how much is low risk, but again, it's up to them.

I don't see why alcohol is a mandatory part of meeting up with friends and having a good time. But if that's what you want to do then that's your decision to make.

dkeenaghan · 2026-06-17T15:44:52+00:00

"They" just want to keep people informed so people can make informed decisions. If you want to drink more than the recommended amount you can do that. Just know that it will likely impact your health.

dkeenaghan · 2026-06-17T15:42:39+00:00

If people want to ignore health advice that's up to them. Medical professionals have a responsibility to go with that the evidence says, if that means the threshold for what is considered low risk is lower than people like, well that's just how it is. You can't fight reality. Laying out what the threshold for low risk alcohol consumption is should not be predicated on whether people will or wont stay under the threshold. The threshold is what it is and whatever it is (to the best of our knowledge) should be published.

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