Drinks company Diageo is set to go ahead and build a new €200 million purpose-built brewery in Newbridge following the withdrawal of a High Court appeal.
The brewing facility will be established at IDA Newbridge Business & Technology Park and will include a brew house, workshops, control rooms, labs, offices and other storage areas.
There will be a tanker filling area and a drop-off area for raw materials with 92 silos. The development will also include a renewable heating plant building and a water recycling plant.
Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM), Martin Heydon, who is also a Kildare TD, has welcomed the confirmation that the Guinness brewer will now proceed with construction.
He said: “The withdrawal of the sole objection to this important project, is great news for all of south Kildare and the wider tillage sector.
“Kildare County Council and An Bord Pleanála both thoroughly adjudicated on this planning application from Diageo and approved it. The ending of the High Court appeal clears the way for diggers to move in on site in the coming weeks.
“Diageo’s decision to invest in this site in Newbridge is a huge vote of confidence in Kildare south as a location for investment and employment.”
The Boortmalt malting facility in Athy, which processes malting barley produced by Irish farmers, is a major supplier to Diageo.
Heydon added that the risk of the loss of that market, should the new brewery not have proceeded in Ireland, would have been a major blow to Athy and those farmer suppliers.
“Now there is the very real prospect of Boortmalt increasing its investment in Athy and growing its operations there,” Minister Heydon said.
The facility on the 50ac brewery site in Newbridge will be Diageo’s second largest brewing operation in Ireland after St James’s Gate and will be located in the heartland of where much of the grain for their beers is grown.
It is expected to create up to 1,000 jobs in the construction phase followed by 70 direct jobs once built, with scope for further expansion.
“This project will be transformational for our county, increasing the economic value of our food and drink sector, along with the provision of good jobs in Kildare,” Minister Heydon said.
“I look forward to seeing Ireland’s first carbon neutral brewery come to fruition for the benefit of Kildare south and Ireland.”