The prospect that Apple will ever build its long-delayed €850million data centre in the fields of Athenry has receded after the head of the IDA confirmed the company has no plans for the site in the foreseeable future. Martin Shanahan, the IDA’s chief executive, expressed his “disappointment” at how delays in dealing with the computer giant’s planning application had potentially derailed a “hard won” investment. Mr Shanahan welcomed Government proposals to bring data centre developments under the critical infrastructure framework in order for data centre planning applicants to be fast-tracked and such a move would “reduce uncertainty”. Speaking on RTÉ radio on Sunday Mr Shanahan said it was disappointing that the project had reached this point. Mr Shanahan admitted that doubts about Apple’s commitment to building the data centre in Athenry had mounted over recent months as the delays in the planning process continued.

Source: The Irish Times November 05, 2017 22:41 UTC