Apple scraps €850m Irish data centre after planning delays

Decision described as 'hammer blow' to west Ireland and comes before supreme court hearing

Apple is scrapping plans for an a850m (743m) data centre in Ireland after three years of planning approval delays, the company has said.

Plans for the European data centre were announced in February 2015, to be built in Athenry, County Galway, where green energy sources were available. The project was stalled by a series of planning appeals by conservationists seeking to preserve a forest.