The historic brewhouse building on the old Smithwicks site in Kilkenny is set to be transferred into a research and enterprise hub for the relocation of the Telecoms Software and System Group/Arc Lab facility for start-ups at a cost of €3.5m.

A plan has been unveiled by Kilkenny City and County Council for the development of part of the Smithwicks Brewery site in the centre of Kilkenny City into a national research and development centre and a hub for high-performance start -ups.

Central to the plan is the relocation of the successful TSSG/Arc Lab Kilkenny facility to the proposed new campus. The TSSG ()/Arc Lab facility is a joint venture between the Kilkenny Local Authorities, Waterford and Carlow Institute of Technologies, and is a hub for next-generation internet development for companies in the finance, banking, insurance and agri-business sectors.

Since it opened in St Kieran’s College in Kilkenny last year, it has generated €2m of business and now employs 20 highly skilled researchers. It is full and seeking to expand.