sidrictheviking

This is tricky. I'm old enough to remember watching many Ali fights and following his boxing career and public life with interest. Here in Ireland there was the same split in attitude to him. Some were put out by his radical Muslim views. Others, though, simply loved his personality. Many here, too, watched his interviews on British TV, especially with Michael Parkinson (they were very influential interviews over here). We saw him change from a cheerful, cheeky and funny sportsman to a strongly opinionated man with narrow, sectarian views. Overall, I think many here still think, on balance, his contribution to this world has been positive, especially his final years as an international sports personality. I watched an excellent documentary about him on ITV over the weekend. It featured all the highs and lows of his career and his personal life. I came away still admiring the man, while conscious of his flaws. Guess what, he was as human as the rest of us!

latifbp said:

Offer all residents in the area a 6 pack of Guinness.

"Shure, wouldn't dat just be grand!"

Seriously, though. Why would giving the locals a British-owned beer (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diageo) solve anything?

Yes, I'm Irsh and I'm amused by the fact that NONE of our famous beers and spirits are Irish-owned anymore. Which, of course, has absolutely nothing to do with Apple and data centres. As a moderate Apple fan (two old iPhones, iPad and IMac) I hope this goes through relatively smoothly. This planning process is par for the course. Try building an incinerator around here and see what happens!

Could it be? Is it finally happening? Have all my Christmasses come along together? Etc, etc, etc

However, the cynic in me says, "I'll believe it when I'm standing in the queue, ten minutes before opening, waiting for my new t-shirt". 

Bring it on, Apple.