Celebration time for Diageo as it turns the sod on new €200m beer plant

The start of construction comes two months after sole objector to the brewery, John Lynch, withdrew his High Court challenge seeking to quash An Bord Pleanála’s December green light for the project.

The farmer and undertaker withdrew his proceedings after successful mediation talks with Guinness-producer Diageo.

Plans were first lodged for the brewery in July 2022 and a Diageo spokeswoman said yesterday that “the target date for the brewery to begin production is 2026 and it will facilitate the growth of overall beer exports from Ireland”.

She said: “It will also facilitate enhanced capacity for the production of the fast-growing Guinness 0.0 at the traditional home of Guinness at St James’s Gate in Dublin.”

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The new facility will brew lagers and ales including Rockshore, Harp, Hop House 13, Smithwick’s, Kilkenny and Carlsberg. With a capacity of two million hectolitres, it will be the second largest brewing operation in Ireland after St James’s Gate and support the future growth of Diageo Ireland’s beer brands.

Category head – global beer supply, Diageo, Colin O’Brien said: “Following the announcement of our plans to construct this new brewery in 2022, we are delighted to have reached this significant landmark through the beginning of construction works. As a global business this new brewery is a major development for Diageo in Ireland and around the world.”

Present at the sod-turning ceremony was Minister of State for Agriculture and TD for Kildare South Martin Heydon (FG), who said: “This €200m investment by Diageo is hugely important and is great news for Ireland’s food and drink industry and also for the local economy and community here in Kildare.”

Chief executive of Kildare County Council Sonya Kavanagh said that “it is a real vote of confidence for the entire county to have such a major company that produces iconic brands locating a brand-new facility here in Kildare”.

The new brewery for Littleconnell is to provide a major jobs boost to the Kildare area, providing up to 1,000 roles during the 20-month construction period and will lead to the creation of a further 70 jobs when operational.

Kildare County Council had granted planning permission for the project in March 2023 but the brewery plan was stalled after Mr Lynch and a man at the centre of RTÉ Investigates allegations concerning payoffs to objectors in the planning system, John Callaghan, through his Sustainability 2050 entity, separately appealed the decision to An Bord Pleanála.

Mr Callaghan withdrew his appeal on November 23 last prior to the appeals board granting of permission in December.