In the 1980s there were just two distilleries in Ireland. Today there are at least a dozen. Peter Mulryan explores this boom in his new book, The Whiskeys of Ireland, writes Leslie Williams.

It’s a drink associated with the mature connoisseur, the hardened drinker and latterly the hipster, all of them men. Not anymore says Bill Linnane as the home of Irish whiskey has hired a woman as chief distiller at its new microbrewery

IRISH whiskey production is to be scaled down because of the negative impact of the 42% increase in excise duty imposed by Finance Minister Charlie McCreevy in December’s Budget.

It is not all doom and gloom in the high-tech sector, job announcements in Northern Ireland proved today.