Site objector ‘doesn’t regret’ Apple battle

… as €850m data centre deal hangs in the balance

A MAN whose long-running court battle has jeopardised the €850m Apple data centre in Co. Galway, has said he has no regrets over his actions.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s trip to the US turned into a diplomatic disaster this week when Apple CEO Tim Cook seemed to indicate the project is doomed, just days after the High Court cleared the way for the data centre to proceed.

Mr Varadkar was on a trip to Silicon Valley in California where he met with tech industry heavyweights. However, he emerged from a meeting with Mr Cook with the shocking news that Apple was refusing to commit fully to the Athenry data centre.

Since Apple had already officially announced the centre, this has been interpreted within Government as a major setback.

Yesterday, the Taoiseach confirmed that, in future, data centres will be considered strategic infrastructure for planning purposes, meaning applicants will apply directly to An Bord Pleanála for planning permission as opposed to the local authority. The means projects will be able to negotiate the planning process more easily.

Allan Daly – an environmental engineer who moved to Athenry from the US – brought planning objections against the proposed centre to the High Court over fears it would have a negative environmental impact. The two other objectors were local woman Sinead Fitzpatrick and Brian McDonagh, a businessman linked to a data centre in Wicklow.

Mr Daly said that, throughout the two years of planning and court hearings, he had hoped for a compromise that would have allowed the data centre to be built.

‘I kept hoping that Apple would come up with a mitigation proposal [but] the project wasn’t changed since day one.’

Mr Daly has strong concerns about the pressures the data centre would place on our electricity network.

‘It’s an area people need to be concerned about – for example, their national grid being converted 30% for use by data centres and 70% for the rest of the entire economy. That’s a fundamental shift in the use of a very important asset. It will affect everyone in their prices, taxation all of that,’ he said.

Thousands took to the streets of Athenry to show their support for the data centre – a point the Taoiseach stressed in his meeting with Mr Cook. However, while a legal battle ensued in Ireland, Apple moved forward with plans for a data centre in Denmark. This project – commenced around the same time the Athenry project was announced – is almost complete.

Mr Daly said that while some locals think the data centre would transform the area, the positive impact would be minimal and not worth the environmental damage.

‘There’s some people that are fuming mad over it. They’re pinning all their hopes and dreams on it. I don’t think the project as proposed – and where it is proposed – is sustainable, so I’m always going to be against this exact project. The costs outweigh any benefits’

Mr Daly said he had not been contacted by anyone from the Government in relation to this legal challenge.

‘I’m always going to be against this exact project’