Judge shortage in Ireland delays ruling on Athenry Apple data center location controversy

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in General Discussion
Once thought to reach a conclusion on June 23, the appeal hearing opposing Apple's Athenry, Ireland efforts has been delayed because of a lack of judges able to hear the case.




Citing "a lack of judges," Irish radio station Galway Bay FM broke the news. The manpower shortage wasn't that transparent, until a six-person delegation from the "Apple for Athenry" advocacy group arrived and found it closed.

The court has not as of yet firmly scheduled the hearing, but the news radio station believes that it will be held before June 30.

Allan Daly is an American-born immigrant and environmental engineer, and has raised multiple objections to the data center. Daly's concerns center around strain on the Irish electrical grid and no apparent plans to cope with greenhouse gas emissions from the data center.

Apple's project was approved by Irish planning councils, but Daly and fellow residents Sinead Fitzpatrick and Brian McDonagh appealed the decision to Ireland's An Bord Pleanala in Sept. 2015. The appeal wasn't granted, forcing Daly to the High Court for review of the case.

Apple's effort isn't the only one in Daly's cross-hairs. Daly is also fighting a $1 billion Amazon data center in Dublin.

The Athenry facility stands to become Apple's second data center in Europe. Viborg, Denmark is the first, and set to go online by the end of the year. It deals with waste heat by pumping it into local homes, while using agricultural waste to generate some of its energy.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 7
    xbitxbit Posts: 390member
    Maybe if they hadn't entered the race to the bottom on corporation tax they would be able to afford more judges.  ;)
  • Reply 2 of 7
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    Awesome. Clearly they are stonewalling the EU on this. They don't want to cooperate and that warms my heart.
  • Reply 3 of 7
    Apple should volunteer to pay for a few new judges, and perhaps provide some nice technology to make them more efficient.  That would be a win-win, right?
  • Reply 4 of 7
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    Apple should volunteer to pay for a few new judges, and perhaps provide some nice technology to make them more efficient.  That would be a win-win, right?
    Why? There's absolutely no reason to accelerate the timeline on this fraudulent case brought against Apple. The Irish can continue to give the EU the bird and delay, delay, delay.
  • Reply 5 of 7
    smiffy31smiffy31 Posts: 202member
    Apple should volunteer to pay for a few new judges, and perhaps provide some nice technology to make them more efficient.  That would be a win-win, right?
    Why? There's absolutely no reason to accelerate the timeline on this fraudulent case brought against Apple. The Irish can continue to give the EU the bird and delay, delay, delay.
    I suggest that everyone reread the article. It has nothing to do with the EU and the tax problems, it is about the installation of the new data centre and a few locals who are trying to oppose the installation.
    singularity
  • Reply 6 of 7
    boriscletoboriscleto Posts: 159member
    Are the judges all on prison ships on the way to Botany Bay? Or just out watching the small free birds fly?
  • Reply 7 of 7
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    smiffy31 said:
    Apple should volunteer to pay for a few new judges, and perhaps provide some nice technology to make them more efficient.  That would be a win-win, right?
    Why? There's absolutely no reason to accelerate the timeline on this fraudulent case brought against Apple. The Irish can continue to give the EU the bird and delay, delay, delay.
    I suggest that everyone reread the article. It has nothing to do with the EU and the tax problems, it is about the installation of the new data centre and a few locals who are trying to oppose the installation.
    You are quite right.

    "The long-awaited decision on Apple’s plans for an 850 million euro data centre in Athenry has been postponed due to what the courts service has described as a shortage of judges."
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