Source: Mark Lennihan

APPLE’S NEW DATA centre slated for construction in Co Galway has been given approval by An Bord Pleanála.

The €850 million installation was announced in early 2015 for Athenry, near Galway City.

The planning board released its decision regarding the planning application this morning, with approval being granted subject to “revised conditions”.

Those revised conditions mostly relate to the prospective construction’s impact on the environment and the effect on “sustainable transport and the orderly development of the area”.

The 24,500 square metre installation will join a similar project being constructed in Jutland, Denmark, as the first such centres built by the tech giant outside the US.

The facility was granted planning approval by Galway County Council in September 2015 – however that approval was subject to a number of complaints made by locals to the planning authority.

Following this morning’s decision construction is now expected to begin before the end of the year.

The data centre will be built on a Coillte-owned greenfield site at Derrydonnell.

The IDA believes that up to 300 jobs will be created throughout the multiple phases of the project.

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