Nuclear threat twarts Apple growth

APPLE will not be coming to County Wicklow – because of power plants located in Wales.

Apple is bringing a data centre to Ireland, with a site in Newtownmountkennedy having been one of the possible locations capable of accommodating a project of its scale.

However, according to the Sunday Times, the technology giant has ruled out the eastern side of the country altogether.

One of the reasons for this is that any proposed site in the east of the country is within 200 miles of nuclear facilities.

There are also large fuel storage fa- cilities in Dublin prohibitive to Apple’s needs. The company has ruled out any site within 20 miles of fuel storage facilities.

The €850 million data centre is now planned for Athenry in County Galway, where objections have been made by a number of parties.

Galway County Council approved the site in September 2015 and Apple had hoped to start building this year.

An Bord Pleanala approved the development after appeal, but a number of objectors are continuing to fight the proposals, and are considering judicial review. An initial court hearing to consider the matter is due to begin today,

One of those objecting to the Galway move for Apple is Brian McDonagh, director of Ecologic Data Centres, which has planning permission for a data centre in Newtownmountkennedy.

Julie Bates of Greystones also objected, saying that the Newtown site could easily accommodated the project.

Apple said that the Newtown site was not a viable alternative due to the proximity of the Wylfa nuclear power station in Wales. They also said that the site was too small.