Apple to build European data center in west Ireland

US tech giant Apple announced on Monday it will build an 850-million-euro ($969 million) European data center in Athenry, west Ireland's County Galway.

The data center will bring 300 jobs to Ireland, which will be created across multiple phases, with the new center forming part of Apple's largest data center project in Europe. The company also plans to build another data center in Viborg, Denmark.

The facilities will power Apple's online services, including the iTunes Store, App Store, iMessage, Maps and Siri for customers across Europe.

The data center, measuring 166,000 square meters, is expected to begin operations in 2017.

Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny welcomed the announcement, calling it a "very significant investment in the West of Ireland",

while Jobs Minister Richard Bruton dubbed it "a huge boost for the west and a great example of what is possible with the right policies".