AI Magazine March 2025 | Article Title

Innovating for people, powered by technology.

Brendan Coffey, Associate Director of Operations for Leinster region at Kirby, looks at how the company builds excellence into Vodafone’s data centres.

“We’re an island, so we have a limited supply of power, which is why we do as much of our data centre construction work as possible off-site. It’s a far safer and more efficient way of working, it reduces travel emissions and eliminates the wait time for a building to be weather-proof before a project can begin,” Brendan said.

With bases in Ireland, the UK, Europe and South Africa, Kirby Group Engineering is a leading mechanical and electrical engineering contractor, providing specialist services in the areas of data centres, life sciences, industrial, and power and renewables.

Brendan Coffey is Kirby’s Associate Director of Operations for the Leinster region, with a significant focus on data centres. One of Kirby’s first projects in this field was for the buildout within Vodafone’s Clonshaugh facility – 20 years ago in 2005. This marked the beginning of a longstanding relationship between the two companies that continues today.

Vodafone’s Clonshaugh data centre

Reflecting on the ongoing projects at Vodafone’s Clonshaugh data centre, Brendan said: “Successful delivery of quality projects is a priority at Kirby, and we pride ourselves on listening to the needs of clients and responding accordingly. This has resulted in a mutually beneficial working relationship with the team at Vodafone, and one we look forward to continuing into the future.”

Kirby has worked on numerous projects at the Clonshaugh centre, including the extensive Resilience Upgrade Project to enhance the facility’s cooling systems and air conditioning, the refresh of CRAC units to enhance efficiency and reliability, and the construction of a Disaster Recovery Command Centre.

Embedding sustainability in data centres

The complex nature of data centre construction lends itself to off-site manufacturing where possible, and to this end, Kirby has responded to the growth and demand in this industry with the opening late last year of an OSM facility in Portlaoise.

Brendan Coffey Associate Director of Operations