Facebook unveils massive Clonee data centre

The village of Clonee, on the Dublin border, has been well known for years as headquarters of the meat company, Kepak, whose names emblazoned the Royal County's GAA jerseys during their glory years.
Yesterday, the village's newest arrival, Facebook, unveiled its massive data centre on a 250-acre site – previously two farms - next door to the meat company headquarters. 
Some 300 employees of the online media giant are based in Clonee, one of six such data centres globally which handles the data of 2.5 billion Facebook users across the world. Construction of the centre began in April 2016, with two 25,500 square feet buildings currently housing data halls, linked by an administration building,  and a third one under construction since last October.
Two further blocks are going through the planning process, and if successful, will see up to 500 employed at the centre, one of the most advanced and energy efficient data centres in the world. 
Clonee One – the first of the blocks to be built – began operation last December, with the second block becoming operational in April of this year. 
Louth man Niall McEntegart, Facebook’s Datacenter Operations Director for Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia-Pacific, explained that the site is supported by 100 per cent renewable wind energy, in partnership with Brookfield Renewables, and a 220kV substation has been built on site. 
Mr McEntegart described the building of the Clonee centre - the “engine of the internet” as the biggest construction project in the country in recent times. Some 1,200 worked on each block, with a peak of 1,550 at peak of construction. A sum of €300 million has been cited as the investment in it. 
“This is where the rubber meets the road,” he added. “The real physical infrastructure of Facebook visible to the public.”
Some 200,000 km of fibre runs through the three blocks – enough to wrap around the world five times, McEntegart explains. The data enters the server halls through 2.5 million veins of fibre in 'main point of entry' points – four in each hall, covered in armour – via a building distribution frame and main distribution frame. Each block contains four halls, with eight in operation in total and another four under construction in the Clonee Three block.
“Data is spread across multiple centres globally in the unlikely event anything ever happened at one of them. Users' data would still be protected,” he explained. 
Streams on site are used to create ponds and landscaping is influenced by heritage of the area such as the Hill of Tara and Newgrange. Facebook is also involved in the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan, and has 10 bee hives on the grounds, with 50,000 bees per hive, producing honey in Facebook Blue Apiaries.
Facebook yesterday launched its Community Action Grants Programme in Clonee, which has already donated over €2.5 million to projects internationally, and will be open to community groups in Meath. 
Clonee and neighbouring Dunboyne has seen a number of major international investments in recent years, with construction underway nearby on a €400 million European Quality Control hub for the US pharmaceutical firm, Shire, next door to the largest Avoca store in the country, part of the chain acquired by New York-listed multinational Aramark for a reported €60 million in 2015.