Apple has said it inspected 25 sites across Galway before it chose lands in Athenry for a near€1 billion data centre, a planning inquiry has heard.
Executive Oscar Gonzalez said that some of the lands suggested by the Industrial Development Authority were immediately dismissed because of poor roads and broadband, or else the sites were too small to cope with a 15-year plan to build eight data centres in one location.
The lands in Derrydonnell chosen by the tech giant were "uniquely attractive", Mr Gonzales told the third day of a Bord Pleanála oral hearing in Galway.
Large-scale investment
He said: “We anticipate that it will become a hub for high value and large-scale investment helping Galway achieve its aim of supporting nationally and regionally significant activities and attracting specialist enterprise development.”
A consultant for Coillte told the hearing that the State forestry company will plant trees in Roscommon and Wicklow to compensate for woodlands that will be cut down in Derrydonnell, though some residents argue such a move is of little compensation to people living in Derrydonnell, Tobberroe and Palmerstown who will lose a valuable local amenity.
Galway Chamber’s Maurice O’Gorman has strongly supported Apple’s plans.