IDL announces €17m expansion plan

Irish Distillers is to invest €17 million in an expansion of its Fox and Geese bottling facility in Dublin which will result in 30 new jobs.

The investment was officially announced at an event to mark 50 years of bottling at the Clondalkin facility by the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton TD.

The development reflects the pace of growth in the Irish whiskey category and it will increase bottling capacity at the site by 50% from five million nine-litre cases a year to 7.5 million cases by 2017. The Department of Jobs, through Enterprise Ireland, has supported IDL in this expansion.

“At the heart of our Action Plan for Jobs is targeting better supports at areas where we have the capacity to grow exports and jobs,” stated the Minister at the event, “Irish whiskey is one such area and in recent years we’ve seen hundreds of extra jobs in this area on the back of rapidly growing exports”.

The Fox and Geese expansion forms part of the wider €200 million expansion of the Midleton distillery and maturation facility in Dungourney, County Cork.

At the same time the Teeling Whiskey Distillery was also opened in Newmarket, Dublin 8 and together the two developments are regarded as clear signs that the renaissance in Irish whiskey is now taking hold with a total of 26 new or proposed distilleries spanning the island today.

“The Irish whiskey industry is experiencing an amazing period of growth at the moment, with annual exports up 220% since 2003,” commented Bart Storan, Campaign Manager for Support Your Local, “The opening of Teeling Whiskey Distillery will be good for jobs and tourism in Dublin 8. This, along with the expansion of Irish Distillers’ bottling facility, will support the overall aim of the Irish whiskey industry to double exports by 2020 and double exports again by 2030 and increase Irish whiskey’s market share from 4% to 12% by 2030.”

However he also stressed that, “A strong home market will be key for the industry to reach its full potential with adequate support from the Government. This will allow the industry to increase employment by 30% by 2025, investing over €1 billion across Ireland”.

At the announcement marking a €17million expansion investment at the Fox and Geese site which celebrated its 50^th anniversary are (from left): Chairman and Chief Executive of Irish Distillers Pernod Ricard Anna Malmhake with Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton TD and Minister for Justice and Equality Frances Fitzgerald TD.