Researchers study impact of major projects on Killala
Killala is the location for several major energy and digital technology projects.
Two US researchers are to return to Killala to study the impact of digital and energy infrastructure on the local landscape.
In 2020, Dr Hunter Vaughan, Assistant Professor of Ecomedia in the Department of Visual and Media Arts at Emerson College, Boston, began a research project about the growth of both digital infrastructures and renewable energy infrastructures in Mayo. The former included subsea cable landing stations and data centres, while the latter encompassed solar panels and wind turbines.
Dr Vaughan and Dr Meryl Shriver-Rice, Director of Research at the Institute for American Indian Studies, carried out research in Killala over three weeks at the end of the Covid pandemic. They talked with local citizens and politicians and hosted an event using techniques of photo elicitation and participatory mapping.
In the Killala community, the researchers gained insights into rich local knowledge and political aspirations for community revival when discussing data and energy infrastructure growth. The groups explored local needs and desires in the context of digital and renewable energy technologies, and discussed geographical and aesthetic preferences in planning new infrastructure development, considering local people’s appreciation of Killala's architecture and coastal vistas. Killala - and, in particular, the former Asahi site - has been earmarked for several major energy and digital technology projects.
Now benefitting from a second round of research grant funding, additional resources and planning time, and the partnership of Moy Valley Resources IRD, the team returns to Killala in July 2025 to conduct two days of public events. These meetings will focus on local feelings and desires, as well as perceived problems and benefits of renewable energy growth alongside internet infrastructure expansion. Two open community events will take place on July 9th and 10th at 8.30pm in Killala Community Centre, and one-to-one conversations can also be facilitated by prior arrangement.
It is intended that the findings of the engagement between researchers and the public at the end of July will be made available to the Killala and surrounding community in a written summary report. It will be placed at the service of interested local parties to raise awareness and visibility of the issues surrounding digital and renewable energy technology development. It will help support community agency and voice in this area of development, and in this way, the community-based research conducted from 2020 comes full circle in that its findings may now have an impact on the place in which it was undertaken, and give back to those who contribute.
Refreshments and spot prizes will be available and an interesting evening’s discussion and interaction is assured.
If you wish to speak to the researchers on a topic (biodiversity, ecology, agriculture, landscape protection, etc) on a one-to-one basis, please email Annette Maughan, CEO Moy Valley Resources IRD at amaughan@moyvalley.ie.
