Town to fight brewery loss

THE town of Dundalk has pledged to try and fight the proposed closure of the Diageo plant with the loss of at least 85 jobs.

The brewery produces Harp, Smithwicks, Carlsberg and Satzenbrau, and is the second-largest brewery in the Diageo group in Ireland.

The shock announcement that it was closing as part of a rationalisation plan by the group, which will also see it locate a state-of-the-art €650m brewing operation near Dublin, left workers speechless. Staff gathered yesterday morning for a meeting where the company outlined its planned brewing operation near Dublin and the subsequent closure of the Dundalk site.