AFP, Dublin :
US tech giant Apple announced Thursday it had shelved plans to build an 850-million-euro ($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 in a statement.
“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 meters (nearly 1.8 million square metres), or roughly 40 Premier League football pitches, in County Galway, west Ireland.
US tech giant Apple announced Thursday it had shelved plans to build an 850-million-euro ($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 in a statement.
“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 meters (nearly 1.8 million square metres), or roughly 40 Premier League football pitches, in County Galway, west Ireland.
