Diageo has secured the go-ahead for its €25m plan to construct a new distillery at its St James’s Gate base in Dublin for its new premium blended Irish whiskey, Roe & Co.

Drinks giant Diageo is to launch a new Irish whiskey as it looks to tap into the booming popularity of the tipple.

A €10.5m investment in Midleton Distillery will help grow the industry for the next 30 years, according to owner Irish Distillers Pernod Ricard.

Continued strong sales momentum for Jameson Irish Whiskey, in key overseas markets, helped international drinks giant Pernod Ricard make a positive start to its current financial year.

Investment by food and drink companies In Ireland has accelerated this year, but there are concerns it is too narrowly based and that there are too few ‘scalable’ companies in the sector.

A new umbrella body for the whiskey-making industry has been established to guide growth in a sector which is expected to invest more than €1bn in the Irish economy over the next decade.

The Irish Whiskey industry is planning to invest more than €1bn here over the next 10 years.

Whiskey exports are set to double by the year 2020 and double again in the 10 years after that, it has been claimed.