Infrastructure

Inside the €1bn subsea cable plan linking Galway to Asia as global warming opens new sea routes

A proposed subsea internet cable pioneering a route through the arctic circle throws up interesting questions about Ireland’s place in the world

Climate change is causing sea ice to retreat rapidly, opening up new sea routes which will allow internet cables to link Europe and Asia more easily. Picture: Getty

When Ossian Smyth heard about an ambitious new subsea internet cable project stretching from Europe to Japan through the Arctic Circle, he decided Ireland had to be a part of it.

“I told the Finns I would be very keen to get the connection in to Ireland too,” the minister of state with responsibility for communications told the Business Post.

“Galway Bay has been widely mapped, so that makes it attractive. Certainly the landing of ...