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Apple Scraps $1 Billion Irish Data Center Over Planning Delays (reuters.com)
Apple ditched plans to build an 850 million euro ($1 billion) data center in Ireland because of delays in the approval process that have stalled the project for more than three years, the iPhone maker said on Thursday. From a report: Apple announced plans in February 2015 to build the facility in the rural western town of Athenry to take advantage of green energy sources nearby, but a series of planning appeals, chiefly from two individuals, delayed its approval. Ireland's High Court ruled in October that the data center could proceed, dismissing the appellants who then took their case to the country's Supreme Court.
Maybe in America where every last little scrap of money is everything this would be a huge lesson But I imagine that a small Irish town would rather NOT have those scraps of money (most of which will go to the architects and building contractors) and preserve their way of life. Unlike in the US, not every town is thrilled at the idea of becoming a strip mall for tech workers to get their ramen and dry cleaning and who bring the self-centered, clueless phone gazing monoculture culture of elitism and snobbery with them So yes, I think Apple got the hint that this community and the PEOPLE in it had serious reservations and some even colder feet, though they were tempted by the prospects, I think both parties are much better off with this deal being called off