The Environmental Protection Agency have begun an investigation following complaints of noise coming from a new data centre in Clondalkin in west Dublin.
Concerns regarding noise at the west Dublin centre first arose in July, with some nearby residents hearing an unusual noise, which they described as a persistent humming, which happened mainly at night, but also during the day.
A number of complaints regarding the noise led to the EPA launching an investigation which they have said is under way.
One resident, Aaron Jeffrey, who lives more than 2km away from the new Echelon DUB10 data centre, said when the issue first arose, he thought he was imagining it, or it was a noise which was happening within his home.
He soon realised that he was not alone.
"I just remember hearing this buzzing noise. To be honest, at the start I thought I was going a bit crazy", he said.
"Then after a couple nights of not being able to sleep, making sure it wasn't the refrigerator pump or a neighbour playing something, I finally started recording it, and then I figured out from there that it probably was a local data centre."
"It's this kind of low-frequency hum that just seems to intercept through any material. It doesn't matter if you close the doors, the blinds, the shutters, the vents on top of the windows. It's just constant as well," he added.
"We made a post in Clondalkin Living on Facebook. A number of people commented on it, saying that they thought they were going insane because like their husbands couldn't hear it, obviously because of the frequency and then we realised we weren't the only people affected by this."
"I've had to buy earplugs just to try and get a good night's sleep, move the bed to the furthest corner of the room and see if there's stuff we could get to try to block out sound. But unfortunately, because of the nature of the noise, there's not really much you can do about it,". (All quotes according to RTÉ).
Aaron went on to claim hat he has bags "under his eyes" due to lack of sleep, which he has said had both "mentally and and physically" impacts on his well-being.
Echelon Data Centres have stated that when they first received these noise complaints, they submitted external acoustic consultants, and also removed a generator used by contractors out of hours.
But the company said after noise complaints continued, a new investigation had started on the site this week, which is still under construction and fully operational.
They said: "We continued to carry out investigations at the site... and further completed mitigation measures applied to roof-mounted chiller units. We expect to have a preliminary analysis of a noise recording before the end of the week. This will be compared against our own data gathered onsite".
They added that they take its responsibilities to the environment and communities in which they operate in, very seriously, and that tackling these concerns were raised and will continue to do so as a "high priority".
A public meeting is to also take place with a community group in Co Kildare about data centres in the county. It is concerned about the "rapid proliferation of data centres in County Kildare" and said it wants "greater transparency and control over the region's development". (All quotes according to RTÉ).
A motion on zoning in regards to data centres before Kildare County Council next week, according Mayor of Naas, Cllr Bill Clear.
