Data centres and planning

Sir, – A letter-writer (November 8th) suggests that the proposed Apple data centre in Athenry, Co Galway, is not of strategic importance. Naas is located 26km from Leixlip, where the Intel semiconductor manufacturing facility occupies a 360-acre site and has provided financial and employment opportunities for the broader adjacent communities for three decades.

The planning debacle in Athenry represents an economic and social setback perpetrated by a tiny number of individuals.

Communities in Galway, Roscommon and Westmeath have regrettably been denied the employment and broader economic benefits that folk in the greater Dublin area take for granted! – Yours, etc,

JIM EGAN,

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Donnybrook,

Dublin 4.