Cork Green Party councillor shifts websites to Hollyhill servers

Concern about the vulnerability of data against the backdrop of the escalating trade war between the US and Europe has prompted a Cork software engineer and Green Party councillor to move his IT infrastructure from America to European providers.

Oliver Moran, who is a councillor for the city’s north east ward, told The Echo that he has now transferred the hosting of his various websites with which he’s involved to servers operating in a Cork city firm in Hollyhill.

"I was watching the changing political and business environment in the US and I decided to look into how difficult or otherwise it would be to transfer my IT infrastructure to European providers."

Different factors 

"The decision was driven by different key factors, including data privacy and security and uncertainty around the US trade war,” said Mr Moran.

"As well as Trump's trade wars, JD Vance has put a target on European data privacy and online safety regulations. 

"This week he's linking a trade deal with the UK to changes in their civil rights framework. The whole issue caused me to reconsider the importance of supporting local and European businesses and values.

"The sort of things I host are my personal website, which provides contact and information relating to my political activities. 

"I’ve also a few sites that would at least transaction more sensitive data. One allows members of the public to log incidents of discoloured water in their homes and inform Uisce Éireann of this, for example. 

"Another is a website that allows people to add to and view a map of vacant and underused buildings in Cork.” 

The company which now hosts Oliver’s websites is Cloud CIX in Hollyhill, whose managing director and founder is Jerry Sweeney.

Critical

Mr Sweeney told The Echo that matters such as data an IT sovereignty were "critical".

“I think given what’s happening globally, Oliver is correct, we need to have control of our sovereign data.” 

Mr Moran has also moved his "AI and automated email to services in France".

“I haven't moved my social media but I'd already decided to step away from Twitter and concentrate on others, including Bluesky.

“Before now, as a software developer, US options would simply be the go-to choices for services like these. They are the brand names we all know.

“Here in Cork, choosing a European provider supports local businesses like Cloud CIX. It makes sense to first look at what’s down the street from you. 

"I could never walk into my previous data centre and just chat with someone if I have a question. 

"Now, I’ve a name and a face at literally half the price. That’s priceless."