Apple’s €850m data centre in doubt

The future of Apple’s planned €850m data centre in Athenry remains in doubt after Taoiseach Leo Varadkar admitted the tech giant’s boss, Tim Cook, failed to give him “a definite commitment” the development will go ahead.

Speaking in San Francisco on the final day of a three-day trade mission to the US, Mr Varadkar confirmed that while he “impressed” on Mr Cook the importance of the site to Ireland, Apple has yet to decide if it still wants to base the site in this country.

Earlier this week, the High Court effectively cleared the way for the multimillion-euro development by rejecting objections to the planned site, which had delayed building for two years.