Irish Distillers has announced the creation of 60 jobs and a €100 million expansion of its plant at Midleton, Co Cork.

Thirty of the new jobs will be at the company's Midleton Distillery, with another 30 at the its bottling plant at Fox and Geese in Dublin. They will be manufacturing and technical positions.

The company said 250 construction jobs will also be created during the 15-month construction process, expected to start next year.

Irish Distillers chairman and chief executive Anna Malmhake  said the expansion was in response to 23 years of continued growth in Jameson sales globally.

“With this investment, we are confirming Midleton, where the tradition of distilling dates back to 1825, as the global centre of Irish whiskey production,” she added.

In the 12 months to June, 3.4 million cases of Jameson were sold worldwide.

PA