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Curious, how much of the $1 Billion in construction would have been local-sourced? As for the purported 150 jobs, do you know for sure that all 150 employees would have been purchasing/renting in this community or maybe they would have chosen Galway, a half-hours drive away. Gotta know all the facts, man.
Yes facts are important.

Two people filed the lawsuit objecting to the data center. Apparently many more actually wanted Apple there:

“More than 2,000 people staged a march in support of the centre in Athenry in November 2016 after objections put the plan on hold.”
https://www.irishtimes.com/business...50m-data-centre-in-athenry-1.3490316?mode=amp

However, the law of unintended consequences is in full effect. As the article says, “the government is in the process of changing its planning laws to include data centers as "strategic infrastructure", which would allow them to get through the planning process much more quickly in future.”

Sometimes, you can win the battle but lose the war.
 
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I love how these threads tend to be relevant for about 1 page, before kicking off into some generic left v right / progressive v conservative / economy v environment arguments :)

One thing I would say - surely the approval process in this country could be SIGNIFICANTLY faster. I'm not saying give the green light to everything, or anything like that. I'm just saying make the decisions faster. If this decision had been made months ago, Apple might have said "ok, let's look at alternative sites". Call me cynical, but I very, very much doubt any significant new information came to light in recent weeks. So why drag out the process needlessly? A slower decision isn't necessarily a better one.

I think if any country said "there's no guarantee a planning request will be granted, but we will give you an answer within X weeks" then companies would love that. It gives the applicants clarity, transparency and doesn't put a massive unknown in the middle of their own plans.
 
An Apple data centre to be deemed an essential service ... just when you thought governments couldn't get any sleazier.
Too late for Apple, but Amazon will no doubt benefit. No idea if Microsoft or Google are also in Ireland.

re: declaring data centers strategic infrastructure being sleazy, I’m not so sure. Microsoft, Amazon and Google (and most assuredly NOT Apple) cloud servers power an amazingly high proportion of business computing infrastructure. And not just the Fortune 5,000. Companies of all sizes.
 
I can somewhat understand local communities.

After a few months or years of increased traffic or other issues during the building phase which is probably carried out from the outside by outside people they end up with something that probably resembles a large bunker where almost nobody will work and probably nobody from the local community.

Investments like this are a bit like having a over head powerline in your property, everybody gets a net benefit except you that end up with a few 50 m steel behemoths on your front garden.
 
We are a village and want that land for walking Dogs and for the views from our homes./QUOTE]

Well..... The answer to this is that if you you and your community value the local land then you should buy it yourselves rather than whining about another entity wanting to do the same.
 
Well..... The answer to this is that if you you and your community value the local land then you should buy it yourselves rather than whining about another entity wanting to do the same.

There are magnitudes of people, each year, who move out of large density environments seeking a more relaxed, laid back setting - they did their homework, found a spot to their liking and then some years later ... THIS.
 
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There are magnitudes of people, each year, who move out of large density environments seeking a more relaxed, laid back setting - they did their homework, found a spot to their liking and then some years later ... THIS.

As I said, buy the land and the problems solved in perpetuity.

One of the issues here is people who say they place value on something but never expect to pay a penny for it.
 
Great job from the angry pitchfork-wielding technology-fearing potato farmers. Their only experience with a computer was watching Logan's Run and as a result they've lost a huge investment for their community.

Now watch them complain that there aren't any local jobs or companies looking to set up shop. Not like the good ol' days, where you could buy a tractor for a punta and everybody carried on the family trade.

old.jpg
What racist rubbish. You do know Limerick was Ireland’s first-ever City of Culture in 2014 and why would they miss what they're never had?
 
Wait wait wait.

So they have a golf course, yet they're worried about flooding or environmental changes because of a large building? Ireland needs to get their facts straight. Bulldoze the golfcourse (after removing all the toxins used on the "greens") then let it return to nature.

Maybe Apple can build the datacenter just beside Trump's golf course in Scotland, and bulldoze it. The locals will be only too happy.
 
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Since you seem unopposed to development, I read a company is looking to set up 200,000 hen/egg laying facility in an urban setting ... that empty lot just down the street from you, looks ideal. When can they start construction?

You might want to rethink your simile. A livestock operation with biohazard byproducts isn't comparable to a data center run off 100% renewable power.
 
Folks living in places like California and Oregon should be used to this kind of NIMBYism. And then there is the minor matter of that ongoing dispute over EU taxes and fines...nah, that couldn't possibly enter into Apple's decision making. No way.
 
I wish there were a way to thumbs up this comment a thousand times. The d*****bags commenting here would rather shoot their mouths off about something they know nothing about and pat Apple on the back for any decision they make rather than perform the modicum amount of research needed to find any facts. Mostly no one has seen the documentary regarding Trump thrusting a Golf course upon a small Irish community who valued their landscape and peace of mind just the way it was and the greedy politicians who didn't care what the community wanted and now it's caused a bunch of ecological and other problems. But I'm sure the pullout has more to do with the taxes theyre being forced to payback and the foiling of their plan to evade paying even more taxes. Taking their toys and going home in a huff like spoiled children or more like sleazy criminals slinking back off into the shadows when law enforcement arrives. If this simple act doesn't expose Apple for the company they are, people are being willfully ignorant.

Tim Cook has zero class and it shows in everything he does. #ousttimcrooknow

Tim is a crook because he wants to minimize taxes paid? I’m no Tim Cook fan, but government is the entity that steals thr money in the first place. They’re the real crooks.
 
You might want to rethink your simile. A livestock operation with biohazard byproducts isn't comparable to a data center run off 100% renewable power.
Waste water heat is a *major* concern near datacenters. Those that don’t operate a closed loop dump hot water into bodies of water causing sever damage to the marine life there.
 
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