Heineken: Brewery site work will be appropriate

ANY development on the site of Ireland’s oldest brewery which is due to close within weeks will be considerate and appropriate, Heineken bosses said yesterday.

But the brewing giant said it would be inappropriate to discuss in detail any future plans for the Beamish and Crawford plant in Cork while people are still working there.

The brewery is due to close in March with the loss of 120 jobs.

The comments came after a meeting yesterday between Heineken executives and heritage campaigners fighting to save the historic building.

National Conservation and Heritage Group (NCHG) chairman Damien Cassidy, who spearheaded a campaign to encourage Guinness to develop the Guinness Storehouse visitor attraction in Dublin, wants something similar in Cork.

He has called for the retention of some brewing on the Beamish site to facilitate the development of a micro-brewery style tourist attraction in that historic part of the city.

Mr Cassidy was joined by NCHG honorary secretary Mick Murphy and Frances McLaughlin for the meeting with Heineken’s Declan Farmer and Eamon O’Sullivan, himself a former Beamish executive, to discuss their vision.

Diary pressures prevented lord mayor Brian Bermingham from attending.

Mr Murphy described the meeting as hugely positive and said the NCHG is confident that Heineken will ensure the “safe keeping” of this protected historic site.

But Mr Farmer stressed that Heineken’s focus is on those workers who will become unemployed on March 31 when Beamish closes.

He said they are ready to discuss any ideas any groups may have but he assured the public any development that may take place on the site will be considerate and appropriate.

He also outlined the steps Heineken has already taken in relation to the Beamish site. It has donated the company’s archives, probably one of the most complete brewing archives in Ireland or England, to the city archives.

The Beamish building has been professionally photographed and videoed, and Diarmúid O Drisceoil has been commissioned to write a book on the history of the site.

And all memorabilia associated with the site has been itemised and stored.

Mr Farmer said once the plant closes, a decommissioning process will begin, and it will be 2010 at the earliest before future uses of the site become relevant.

“But we are very much aware of the heritage value of the site,” he said

Meanwhile, the NCHG is due to meet in Cork within the next two weeks to discuss the next phase of its campaign.