Galway could be set for an even bigger bite of the big Apple

Officials have expressed confidence that Galway can continue to attract technology ‘heavy-hitters’, following the announcement by Apple of around 300 jobs in Athenry.

The tech giant will be based on 500 acres of forest land owned by Coillte at Derrydonnell, and will be up-and-running as a 166,000 square metre data centre, powered by renewable energy.

Following some initial confusion surrounding the announcement, Galway East TD Ciarán Cannon said Apple executives clarified to him that there will be 300 full-time jobs when the centre is operational, and construction workers are separate to this.

Galway Chamber of Commerce has praised the announcement as good news for Athenry, Galway and the wider region.

At a County Council meeting shortly after the announcement, Chief Executive Kevin Kelly said credit was due to successive managers of the Council who had the vision to put in place the infrastructure in the county to attract the likes of Apple.

He said the announcement is a vote of confidence in Galway and the County Development Plan and the educational facilities on offer here.

“By attracting a global leader like Apple, we can be hopeful that others will focus on what Galway has to offer,” said Mr Kelly.

The data centre will handle traffic for a range of Apple’s services, including the iTunes and App stores, iMessage (the free messaging service between Apple users), Maps and Siri (the voice-activated ‘personal assistant’).

See full coverage in this week’s Connacht Tribune.