€153m brewing facility launched

Production is due to start at Diageo Ireland’s new €153m brewing facility at St James’s Gate by the middle of next year.

The drinks giant formally launched construction at the new brew house facility at the iconic Dublin home of Guinness yesterday, only the fourth such structure to be built at the brewery in its 250-year history.

The facility will have the capability to produce 7m hectolitres per year — or somewhere in the region of one billion pints a year.

In Dublin yesterday Diageo’s group chief executive Paul Walsh talked up the company’s long history at St James’s Gate.

“This investment demonstrates Diageo’s commitment to Ireland and highlights how our operations in Ireland are very important to our company’s success. Ireland is home to two of our top brands — Guinness and Baileys — and beer is a core part of our business.”

The St James’s Gate expansion plan was first announced at the start of this year — along with the closure of Diageo’s two smaller breweries in Kilkenny and Dundalk — after it shelved plans for a mega-brewery on land in Leixlip, owned by descendants of the Guinness family and to which Diageo still holds a long-term development option.

Mr Walsh said management remains very pleased with how Diageo’s products are performing, including in Ireland, where first half sales this year were down by 5% on a year-on-year basis.

Regarding Ireland, he said the group has the right brands to compete in the off-trade here, adding that there is still long-term potential for some recovery in the Irish on-trade sector.

He also branded as “ridiculous” talk of banning alcohol brands from sponsoring major events and restraining them from leveraging brand attributes.