Planning permission granted for Apple data centre in Galway

Planning permission has been granted to US technology giant Apple to build a new data centre near Athenry, Co Galway.

The company is to invest €850 million developing the data centre to help run its online services like iTunes and Maps.

The facility, to be built on a 500 acre greenfield site at Derrydonnell, is expected to be operational in 2017 and will create 150 new jobs.

Galway County Council granted approval to the proposed development, subject to 12 conditions.

The conditions include restrictions on the times during which construction work can be carried out.

The company, which already employs more than 3,000 people in Ireland, said the data centre will help power Apple’s online services, including the iTunes Store, App Store, iMessage, Maps and Siri for customers across Europe.