It's been three months since Apple finally gained approval to build its massive data center just outside of Athenry in Galway County, Ireland, and now "a small handful of locals" have been reported as working to derail Apple's data center project since the company got approval in August. The residents have filed complaints with Galway County Council, local planning body An Bord Pleanála, and most recently have taken it to High Court (via Business Insider).

Apple is now trying to get the High Court to fast track the case brought upon by the three individuals in Athenry, mainly by putting the dispute on a "commercial list," a dedicated section of the court which deals with cases that have more than €1 million at stake. For the data center in Ireland alone (one of similar scale is going up in Denmark), Apple plans to spend €850 million.

Apple Data Center
Not all of the locals are against Apple's attempts to build in the area, however, and are planning a march in support this weekend "to show Apple, and the whole world, that the vast majority of Athenry people support wholeheartedly Apple's desire to open a data centre near our town." In the Apple for Athenry March Facebook event, the supportive residents of the town mention a fear that if negative opinions continue to mount against Apple's appearance in the area, the opportunity for community growth could "slip through our fingers."

"We want to show Apple, and the whole world, that the vast majority of Athenry people support wholeheartedly Apple's desire to open a data centre near our town

PLEASE ATTEND THIS EVENT, AND MAKE EVERYONE YOU KNOW AWARE OF IT.

This is a marvellous opportunity for Athenry, and the West Of Ireland. Please do not let this opportunity slip through our fingers.

PLEASE DO NOT UPSET THE APPLECART"

The next step for Apple will be on November 7 -- the day after the organized support march this Sunday -- where the High Court will consider Apple's motion and either agree to the fast track plan and see the issue settled within the next few months, or prolongate the company's attempted construction even more. Original objections to the site referenced wildlife issues, local golf course flooding, and the center's proximity to nearby nuclear power plants.

Once it would start building the data center, Apple has laid out a 10-15 year construction plan for continued expansion and growth of the location, which is intended to power services like the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay and iCloud.

Top Rated Comments

Benjamin Frost Avatar
117 months ago
This data centre will destroy a beautiful piece of countryside, and for that reason, I don't support it.

It's time that planning councils started to protect the countryside and stop granting permission to builders to ruin the earth for everyone else. There is plenty of brownfield site in towns and cities which is appropriate for a data centre.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Speedy Dingo Avatar
117 months ago
Don't know how I feel about Apple replacing this;



With this;



And why Ireland? o_O

http://athenryparishheritage.com/derrydonnell-wood-athenry/

Attachment Image

Attachment Image

Attachment Image

Attachment Image
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
icanhazapple Avatar
117 months ago
This data centre will destroy a beautiful piece of countryside, and for that reason, I don't support it.

It's time that planning councils started to protect the countryside and stop granting permission to builders to ruin the earth for everyone else. There is plenty of brownfield site in towns and cities which is appropriate for a data centre.
Apple can get off the wallet and build these things in northern Scandinavia (in a remote area where very few people live),- passive filtered cooling can be done, which would make it very energy efficient.

The ONLY reason they are building this is in Ireland is their continued use of Irish tax law, which the EU ruled as ILLEGAL.

Apple greed knows no bounds. To HELL with Tim Cook - I will celebrate the day this miscreant steps down, and stops ruining a once great company.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
macgabe Avatar
117 months ago
Nice feel-good pictures, but unless you can vouch that the entire forest will be taken up for the construction site (which would admittedly be a shame), these snapshots only serve to fuel anti-Data centre sentiment. How many acres are we talking about here as far as the size of the forest vs the size of the Data Centre is concerned?

Let the Irish people decide for themselves, and may common sense prevail.
And even then - I'm a nature lover but that looks like a planted forest of pine. A man-made fast-growing monoculture that is typically devoid of much in the way of animal life. When you come across one of these on a walk it's like walking into a desert as far as birds go. My guess is that an Apple industrial park might well be more nature friendly.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CB1234 Avatar
117 months ago
A data centre doesn't sell anything to generate profits* on, so how is this a tax dodge?

*apart from the very small amount of users that pay for additional iCloud storage.
Never ever get in a way of a good rant, even though it has nothing factual about it.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jav6454 Avatar
117 months ago
Quick question to Irish people, how much is Apple destroying of the forest and are there any other sites that do not contain trees/plant life nearby?
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 26 Feature

iOS 26.1 to iOS 26.4 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Saturday October 18, 2025 11:00 am PDT by
iOS 26 was released last month, but the software train never stops, and iOS 26.1 beta testing is already underway. So far, iOS 26.1 makes both Apple Intelligence and Live Translation on compatible AirPods available in additional languages, and it includes some other minor changes across the Apple Music, Calendar, Photos, Clock, and Safari apps. More features and changes will follow in future ...
ios 26 1 liquid glass opaque

iOS 26.1 Beta 4 Lets Users Control Liquid Glass Transparency with New Toggle

Monday October 20, 2025 10:57 am PDT by
With the fourth betas of iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, and macOS 26.1, Apple has introduced a new setting that's designed to allow users to customize the look of Liquid Glass. The toggle lets users select from a clear look for Liquid Glass, or a tinted look. Clear is the current Liquid Glass design, which is more transparent and shows the background underneath buttons, bars, and menus, while tinted ...
iphone air thickness

Apple Said to Cut iPhone Air Production Amid Underwhelming Sales

Friday October 17, 2025 8:29 am PDT by
Apple plans to cut production of the iPhone Air amid underwhelming sales performance, Japan's Mizuho Securities believes (via The Elec). The Japanese investment banking and securities firm claims that the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are seeing higher sales than their predecessors during the same period last year, while the standard iPhone 17 is a major success, performing...
iOS 26

iOS 26.0.2 Update for iPhones Coming Soon

Friday October 17, 2025 7:35 am PDT by
Apple's software engineers continue to internally test iOS 26.0.2, according to MacRumors logs, which have been a reliable indicator of upcoming iOS versions. iOS 26.0.2 will be a minor update that addresses bugs and/or security vulnerabilities, but we do not know any specific details yet. The update will likely be released by the end of next week. Last month, Apple released iOS 26.0.1,...
Apple iPad Pro hero M5

New iPad Pro Has Six Key Upgrades Beyond M5 Chip

Saturday October 18, 2025 10:57 am PDT by
While the new iPad Pro's headline feature is the M5 chip, the device has some other changes, including N1 and C1X chips, faster storage speeds, and more. With the M5 chip, the new iPad Pro has up to a 20% faster CPU and up to a 40% faster GPU compared to the previous model with the M4 chip, according to Geekbench 6 results. Keep in mind that 256GB and 512GB configurations have a 9-core CPU,...
iPhone Siri Glow

Some Apple Employees Have 'Concerns' About iOS 26.4's Revamped Siri

Sunday October 19, 2025 7:39 am PDT by
iOS 26.4 is expected to introduce a revamped version of Siri powered by Apple Intelligence, but not everyone is satisfied with how well it works. In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said some of Apple's software engineers have "concerns" about the overhauled Siri's performance. However, he did not provide any specific details about the shortcomings. iOS 26.4 will...
HomePod mini and Apple TV

Apple's Next Rumored Products: New HomePod Mini, Apple TV, and More

Thursday October 16, 2025 9:13 am PDT by
Apple on Wednesday updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and Vision Pro with its next-generation M5 chip, but previous rumors have indicated that the company still plans to announce at least a few additional products before the end of the year. The following Apple products have at one point been rumored to be updated in 2025, although it is unclear if the timeframe for any of them has...
maxresdefault

Here's How the iOS 26.1 Transparency Toggle Changes Liquid Glass

Monday October 20, 2025 1:55 pm PDT by
With the fourth beta of iOS 26.1, Apple added a toggle that makes Liquid Glass more opaque and reduces transparency. We tested the beta to see where the toggle works and what it looks like. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. If you have the latest iOS 26.1 beta, you can go to Settings > Display and Brightness to get to the new option. Tap on Liquid Glass, then...
m4 macbook air blue

M5 MacBook Air Coming Spring 2026 With M5 Mac Studio and Mac Mini in Development

Thursday October 16, 2025 3:57 pm PDT by
Apple plans to launch MacBook Air models equipped with the new M5 chip in spring 2026, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Apple is also working on M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pro models that will come early in the year. Neither the MacBook Pro models nor the MacBook Air models are expected to get design changes, with Apple focusing on simple chip upgrades. In the case of the MacBook Pro, a m...