Judge shortage in Ireland delays ruling on Athenry Apple data center location controversy

Once thought to reach a conclusion on June 23, the appeal hearing opposing Apple's Athenry, Ireland efforts has been delayed because of a lack of judges able to hear the case.

Citing "a lack of judges," Irish radio station Galway Bay FM broke the news. The manpower shortage wasn't that transparent, until a six-person delegation from the "Apple for Athenry" advocacy group arrived and found it closed.

The court has not as of yet firmly scheduled the hearing, but the news radio station believes that it will be held before June 30.

Allan Daly is an American-born immigrant and environmental engineer, and has raised multiple objections to the data center. Daly's concerns center around strain on the Irish electrical grid and no apparent plans to cope with greenhouse gas emissions from the data center.

Apple's project was approved by Irish planning councils, but Daly and fellow residents Sinead Fitzpatrick and Brian McDonagh appealed the decision to Ireland's An Bord Pleanala in Sept. 2015. The appeal wasn't granted, forcing Daly to the High Court for review of the case.

Apple's effort isn't the only one in Daly's cross-hairs. Daly is also fighting a $1 billion Amazon data center in Dublin.

The Athenry facility stands to become Apple's second data center in Europe. Viborg, Denmark is the first, and set to go online by the end of the year. It deals with waste heat by pumping it into local homes, while using agricultural waste to generate some of its energy.