Distilleries galore

There is a hatful of new distilleries just opened or planned in Ireland

Construction  of the new  brew house at Diageo’s St James’s Gate Brewery. Photograph: Alan Betson
Construction of the new brew house at Diageo’s St James’s Gate Brewery. Photograph: Alan Betson

Peter O’Brien, the Diageo executive and chairman of the lobby Drinks Industry Group of Ireland, complained yesterday that “tax increases have damaged Ireland’s reputation as a destination for drinks related capital investment”. Really? There is a hatful of new distilleries just opened or planned in Ireland: by the Teelings, Pearse Lyons, the Porterhouse Group, Slane Castle, Tullamore Dew, IDL’s extension of the Midleton facility. Not to mention Diageo’s €168 million new brewery at St James’s Gate.