Diageo serves up 1,000 jobs

CONSTRUCTION on the first new Guinness brewery in 50 years has commenced with a sod-turning ceremony in Littleconnell, Newbridge this week.

The brewery was granted planning permission by Kildare County Council in March 2023, but construction was delayed following a judicial review of that permission in the High Court by Athy businessman John Lynch, which was ultimately withdrawn.

“Guinness chose Newbridge for a reason, and that’s the Liffey,” pointed out cllr Chris Pender, reminding people that this river is where they have been drawing their prime brewing source at St James’ Gate for the last quarter of a millennium.

Originally, brewing was due to start before the end of next year, however, this has been pushed back now to 2026.

Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture and Fine Gael TD for Kildare South Martin Heydon, has welcomed the grant of planning permission to Diageo for a €200m brewery in Newbridge.

“Diageo’s plans for a carbon-neutral brewery at a greenfield site in Littleconnell represents a massive investment in Kildare,” said the minister.

“This brewery will create up to 1,000 jobs in the construction phase followed by 70 direct, high-quality jobs once built with significant scope for further expansion,” he added.

Diageo announced their plans in July 2022, and applied for permission the following October.

The choice of location for the brewery by the firm is unsurprising, as they will be drawing on the same water source St James’s Gate has for more than the last quarter of a millennium.

The 21.36Ha (53ac) site will be located in the IDA Business and Technology Park, a little to the left of the Lidl Distribution Centre as one looks in from the Naas Road roundabout.

Diageo plan for the building to be a carbon-neutral facility, and expects to save up to 15,000 tonnes of carbon emissions annually.

The plant will top out at a max height of just under 25m (c.81ft), and will be the second largest brewery in the country, expected to produce about 200m litres of beer annually.