Fears that delay in court decision may spark Apple change of heart

The Commercial Court case involving plans for a multi-million euro Apple data centre in Athenry are to be deferred until Autumn.

The case was previously deferred in June and while it had been hoped that a decision would be made this week it now looks increasingly likely that the case involving plans for the centre won’t be heard until October 3 at the earliest.

This decision comes in the wake of IDA Chief Executive Martin Shanahan calling for a shake-up of the planning system amid fears the considerable delays could lead to Athenry losing the giant project.

Responding to a question following his address to the MacGill Summer School in Glenties last week, Mr Shanahan said tight turnaround times are needed for big planning permissions – and the prospect of companies simply turning elsewhere is a very real danger.

“We need a higher degree of predictability in relation to our planning processes, not that we need predictability about the outcomes, but just about how they progress and their timelines.

“Frankly, commercial companies will not wait around and that is the danger here and it doesn’t send out a good signal. If a company like Apple decided not to proceed, that obviously creates its own issues,” he added.

The €850 million data centre was announced in February 2015 – but remains in limbo due to a judicial review sought by local residents.

Two individuals, Sinead Fitzpatrick and Allan Daly, sought the review of the planning decision by An Bord Pleanala to grant permission on environmental grounds.

At the time Apple announced plans for a massive data centre project in Athenry, it also announced its intention to build a similar project in Denmark which has since been completed – with tech giant Apple now considering developing a second centre in that country.

Meanwhile, the Athenry project hangs in the balance over a series of lengthy delays – with many fearing Apple could be close to pulling the plug.

■ For more on this story, see the print edition of the Connacht Tribune.