The Apple Story

For three years, Apple had been planning a billion-dollar data storage center in Athenry, Ireland.

Athenry is on the western side of the isle....a smaller town between three and four thousand people.  It's fairly quiet, without a lot of stress....but with a very limited number of jobs.  What Apple was bringing was roughly a surge in construction jobs, and what amounted to 200-to-300 full-time jobs.  You can figure at least another four-hundred jobs in the second and third layer of this plan for the locals.

Well....shortly after picking their location.....a rural area about three miles from the town....Allan Daly set himself up as the nemesis of the project.  By birth....an American....this Irish guy was an environmental engineer.  He laid out various concerns to the Apple planners....mostly over the strain to the Irish electrical grid.  Then he got into the wooded area that would be torn down (roughly 450 to 500 acres, depending on who you hear tell the story).  Then he wanted to suggest that better sites existed and were properly zoned for construction.  In this respect, he wanted them in industrial parks, and not out by themselves.

Daly's priority?  It's hard to say.  In 2017, he did suggest that this was about making Apple pick another location.  Part of his statements in the past suggest that he was seriously worried about greenhouse gas emissions that Apple would produce.  I hate to suggest that he might have done the stance to get Apple to pay him or some environmental group off to cease the 'fight', but you have to wonder the money angle about this.  Remember, Apple never pays anyone off....that's been their strategy for years.

The electrical grid concern?  I've read a good bit over the concerns, and of these.....the one concern which deserved more attention, and might have been somewhat correct....was the grid.  If you bring up the topic of 'spikes' with the grid....most everyone in Ireland will agree that 'spikes' are a fairly routine thing to the Irish, and replacement of power supplies occur more often than most Americans would see.  You could off-set the 'spikes' with a massive electrical system and a warehouse of batteries.  Was Apple aware of the electrical 'spikes' or was the financial aspects of working in Ireland worth the hassle involved?  It's hard to say.

Any other anti-Apple stance in Athenry?  No....that's the odd thing.  Virtually every single person in town....wanted the data center.

So a court episode brewed on, and on, and on.  The legal authority with Daly?  Local lawyer....Sinead Fitzpatrick.

The Irish legal system is basically built to allow anyone to file legal documents and stall out a process.  In this case, from the announcement of the project to this week....it's been about three years.  Apple was more than a year behind on their plan.

A couple of months ago....Apple thought the legal fight was over when the court sided that all of their efforts were legal and correct.  Then Daly and Fitzpatrick stepped right back in and appealed.  The court granted the appeal, and Apple sat there in shock.  I think they came to realize that this appeal process could go onto the EU Supreme Court, and it'd be 2020 before this would finally be settled.

So the decision was made this week by Apple....dump Athenry and the project.  They announced it in court, and basically walked out.

The court?  Well, here's the odd part of the story....the judge-authority in this case wants the case to proceed on.  Reason?  No one clearly says it but I'd suspect that there is a cost factor upon the 'loser' and the court might be aiming this cost factor more at Daly and Fitzpatrick than Apple.

Comments by Daly and Fitzpatrick?  None.  Based on two journalists watching the announcement and the reaction by the two.....they appeared a bit shocked.  I suspect that they were not expecting this play by Apple.

Hostility by Athenry folks.  If you read through commentary by locals, there is hostility and frustration.  Jobs are hard to attract into Ireland.....but for this rural community, this anticipated site would have been a major plus for the youth of Athenry.

What happens now?  I suspect that several political parties will now sit and discuss what happened here and develop laws to prevent the environmentalists from 'helping' in any future job plan.  Respect for Daly and Fitzpatrick?  They might face daily criticism from the public, and end up leaving the region (my humble opinion).  As for Apple?  I think in six months....the plan will be reset and somewhere in Poland or Czech.....the Apple data center will be offered.