What you need to know
- Tim Cook is to receive an award marking 40 years of Apple in Ireland.
- He'll collect it whilst visiting Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.
- He is due to visit Dublin on January 20.
Tim Cook will be presented with an award marking 40 years of Apple in Ireland when he visits Dublin later this month.
As reported by Bloomberg the country's investment agency, IDA Ireland, has revealed that Cook will receive the award "in recognition of the iPhone maker's 40 years of investment in Ireland." Cook is due to visit Dublin later this month, January 20th.
Apple employs close to 6,000 people at its Holyhill campus in Cork, which functions as Apple's European headquarters. It handles customer care, finance, manufacturing, and more as well as iTunes. According to The Irish times it also manages the supply of products to more than 147 companies through online, retail and resellers.
Not without controversy, Apple has maintained a largely positive relationship with Ireland. In fact, the EU thought they were a bit too cozy, and back in 2016, it concluded that tax breaks given to Apple by Ireland were illegal under EU state aid rules. The European Commission ordered Apple to pay Ireland some $14.5 billion in unpaid taxes. Both Ireland and Apple are appealing the decision.
Bloomberg also notes that recently Apple shelved plans to build a $1 billion data center in the west of the country over planning difficulties. Apple's Irish operations were also at the center of controversy over the use of contractors to listen to thousands of Siri recordings, reportedly exposing workers to snippets of personal data, conversations between doctors and patients, criminal dealings, sexual encounters and more.
Despite some bumps though, Apple and Ireland have served each other well over the past forty years.
