Pictured: Apple's Viborg data centre in Denmark
What you need to know
- Apple is trying to shift land it bought for a data centre in Galway, Ireland.
- It has applied for an extension to planning permission originally granted in 2015.
- Local politicians have called for the state to buy the land back from Apple given it has lain dormant for some time.
Apple has applied for an extension to planning permission granted to build a $1 billion data center in Galway, Ireland, originally granted back in 2015, as it seeks to shift the plot originally put up for sale in 2019.
A new filing submitted to Galway County Council seeks an extension to planning permission granted to Apple back in 2015. Apple was seeking to build a massive data center in Derrydonnell Forest in Athenry, but the project was stalled by local opposition and legal action.
Apple put the site up for sale in 2019, and is seeking the extension on the application so that any prospective buyer would be able to develop the land. iMore understands the situation hasn't changed recently regarding a sale, and the application states that Apple's intent is "to support the provision of the consented works by identifying interested parties to develope the project who can then proceed with the consented works within the relevant timeframes."
It comes after local politicans called for the State to buy the land back from Apple, as reported by the Galway Advertiser:
Lands in Athenry previously sold to Apple for the tech giant's proposed data center, should be bought back by the State and developed as a location for start-up businesses.This is the view of Sinn Féin Galway East representative, Louis O'Hara, who said the 500-acre parcel of land in Derrydonnell, Athenry, has "significant potential" and should not be left "lying idle".
Apple's filing to the council was submitted on June 22and seeks a five-year extension. Details of the filing reveal any prospective data center would consist of one single storey data center measuring a vast 24,505sqm.
The site lies east of Galway City in Connacht.
