Taoiseach Leo Varadkar gave a written assurance to Apple chief executive Tim Cook that the Government would “do all we can” to support the company’s stalled plans to build a data centre in Athenry, Co Galway. The stalled data centre, the subject of appeals and court objections since it was granted planning in 2015, has caused tensions between the Government and Apple, one of the country’s biggest employers. It completed a data centre in Denmark and announced plans for a second there over the same period. The data centre was even raised in a congratulatory letter Mr Cook sent Mr Varadkar two days after he became Taoiseach. The Department of the Taoiseach declined to release under the FoI Act a briefing note for Mr Varadkar prepared for his meeting with Mr Cook in California on November 2nd.

Source: The Irish Times January 22, 2018 02:48 UTC