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A senior Irish regulator influential in state data centre policy was set to attend Peter Thiel’s secretive Dialog event in the Powerscourt Hotel.

According to records obtained by The Ditch, Commissioner at the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) Tanya Harrington was nominated to attend by another society member.

Previously a ministerial adviser to Fianna Fáil environment minister Noel Dempsey during the Corrib pipeline scandal, Harrington also led energy policy at IBEC where she “championed greater liberalisation of the sector”.

Harrington declined to comment to The Ditch but told RTÉ,  "I have never attended Dialog,” adding, as controversy mounted, she wasn’t going to go to the event in the Wicklow hotel.  RTÉ wouldn’t comment on why it didn’t name Harrington in its story on the now cancelled event.

The Ditch was the first Irish publication to report on the gathering after Wired caved to pressure from Dialog and deleted a reference to the Powerscourt Hotel “to address a security concern” .

‘A prominent figure in Ireland’s regulatory landscape’

Tanya Harrington is one of three commissioners at the Commission for Regulation of Utilities.

The CRU is responsible for regulating how data centres connect to the Irish energy grid.

In September last year Harrington told an Oireachtas committee, “It is important to acknowledge that over 30 percent of electricity – everything that we produce in 2030 – will go to data centres. Over 50 percent of what we produce today in Dublin and Meath goes to data centres."

“As a country,” she told the committee, “we have done an enormous job to attract and retain investment. There is just a physical impediment to what can be connected in certain locations.”

Harrington was going to attend Dialog, the society co-founded by Peter Thiel, at its gathering in the Powerscourt Hotel this August.

Policy researcher and tech investor Reuben Abraham nominated her to attend.

Records describe her as “a prominent figure in Ireland’s regulatory landscape,” noting that she "aims to contribute to creating an optimal regulatory environment for energy, water, energy safety, and customer protection, aligning with Ireland’s ambition for a sustainable and energy-secure future”.

The records show she was registered for the same “DG26 retreat” as politician Lynn Ruane and list her as a first-time participant.

The Ditch first reported the event was taking place in Wicklow last month and that the same hotel also hosted the event in 2018.

The files from Swiss hacktivist Maia arson crimew showed planned sessions titled Bring Back Nuclear, Navigating WWII and Battlefield Technologies.

Reported members of the group include Anduril founder Palmer Luckey and Palantir CEO Alex Karp, while hacked files name NATO Europe commander Alexus Grynkewich, US senator Ted Cruz and US treasury secretary Scott Bessent as attendees of Dialog events. .

Last week Powerscourt Estate announced the gathering would no longer take place at its venue following public criticism after The Ditch revealed the event was due to take place.

“Following a period of great concern for Powerscourt Estate and on foot of discussions with The Powerscourt Hotel, we are relieved and pleased to announce the Dialog event planned for August at the Powerscourt Hotel has been cancelled,” a statement from the estate read.

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