Apple drops plans for €850m Ireland data centre over trees

PROJECT WOULD HAVE BEEN THE BIGGEST PRIVATE INVESTMENT IN WESTERN IRELAND

US tech giant Apple announced yesterday it had shelved plans to build an €850-million (Dh3.7 billion, $1.0-billion) data centre in Ireland over a court battle with conservationists who were seeking to preserve a forest.

“Several years ago we applied to build a data centre at Athenry. Despite our best efforts, delays in the approval process have forced us to make other plans and we will not be able to move forward with the data centre,” the company said.

“While disappointing, this setback will not dampen our enthusiasm for future projects in Ireland as our business continues to grow.”

The Silicon Valley giant believed it had got the green light in October when a High Court judge dismissed appeals brought by three campaigners, who were concerned about the environmental impact of the project, which was to occupy nearly 166,000 square metres, or roughly 40 Premier League football pitches, in County Galway, west Ireland.

But the campaigners won last week their Supreme Court bid for their appeal to be heard, delaying the process even further.

Apple said it was “proud of the many contributions we make” to the Irish economy, and insisted it was still “deeply committed to our employees and customers” in Ireland.

The project, which was first announced three years ago, would have been the biggest private investment in western Ireland. Apple had promised to hide the centre in the forest, make good any damage done and use renewable energy to power the centre. Planning approval was quickly granted but objections were filed on environmental grounds. Ireland believes the project would have create around 300 construction jobs and 150 permanent jobs..