Apple’s $1 Billion Plan Hits a Three-Person Roadblock in Ireland

  • Objections to Irish data center approval to be heard by judge
  • Tiny village in west of country fears investment may be lost

An Apple store.

Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg
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“An Apple a day keeps the bank man away -- stop objecting!”

So read the handwritten sign in Athenry, the tiny village close to Ireland’s Atlantic coast chosen by Apple Inc. for a vast $1 billion data facility. The message was for three people contesting the potential environmental impact and economic benefits from locals worried the company might scrap the project because of more than a year of delays. Meanwhile, the forestry site remains untouched before a judge hears another round of arguments in March.