Guinness parent Diageo officially opens its new Kildare brewery on Monday as part of a near €1 billion investment in its Irish operations.
The drinks giant says the new brewery on a greenfield site at Littleconnell, outside Newbridge, represents an investment of almost €300 million, 50 per cent more than planned when the expansion was first announced in 2022.
Diageo is moving production of all its ales and lagers – Rockshore, Harp, Smithwick’s and Kilkenny, alongside licensed beers such as Carlsberg – for both Irish and international markets from its St James’s Gate site in the centre of Dublin in a move the company says strengthens Ireland’s role within Diageo’s global brewing network.
At capacity, it will be able to produce two million hectolitres making it the second largest brewing operation in Ireland after Diageo’s operation at St James’s Gate.
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The plan was originally envisaged to free up space at the city centre brewery to expand production of Guinness there. However, Diageo has since secured permission for a further €400 million investment to build a second brewery on the 40-acre Kildare site dedicated to the production of Guinness and Guinness 0.0 amid rising demand for those beers.
Work on that phase of the site is expected to begin this year.
As part of the near €1 billion investment between 2020 and 2029, Diageo has already completed work at St James’s Gate and its Belfast packaging site to increase capacity and support the growth of Guinness 0.0, and further work is planned to support the decarbonisation of St James’s Gate.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin officially opened the brewery which, Diageo says, will employ 50 people and incorporates advanced brewing and process technologies to reduce energy and water use. It will be powered entirely by renewable energy.
He said the opening of the brewery was “a powerful vote of confidence in Ireland and in our future as a world‑leading, sustainable food and drink exporter ... underlining the central role Ireland plays within the company’s global brewing network”.
“By choosing to invest at this scale in Ireland and to lead the way in next‑generation, low‑carbon brewing, Diageo is supporting skilled jobs, regional development and export growth, while helping Ireland advance its climate ambitions through innovation,” the Taoiseach said.
“The demand for Guinness and Guinness 0.0. is surging,” Diageo chief executive Sir Dave Lewis, said. “Today Diageo is proud to unveil our new state of the art brewery at Littleconnell, part of our €1 billion investment in Ireland. How fitting that it’s in county Kildare, the birthplace of Arthur Guinness.”
Colin O’Brien, who manages global beer supply at Diageo, said the Littleconnell site was central to enabling future growth in Guinness exports.
Jenny Melia, CEO of Enterprise Ireland, which supported the development financially, said the new brewery was a ”fantastic endorsement of our skills and capabilities in this sector, and will drive export growth”.
“Enterprise Ireland is proud to support Diageo’s investment in this lighthouse project as this innovative brewery sets a new standard for industry globally, in the use of new technologies which will reduce energy and water use.”
