Ireland hoping to use the cold to its economic advantage

IRELAND and Iceland are seeking to fuel their hard-hit economies and exploit their position on the western edge of Europe with new data centres to be connected via a new, $300 million (€223m) transatlantic telecoms cable by 2013.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny unveiled the project — which Ireland hopes will help in its ambition in becoming a global hub for cloud computing — on Thursday at Dublin Castle.

“This will give great connectivity around the whole country, which is vitally important for attracting high-tech investment in the future,” Irish government spokesman Tom McLoughlin said.