Kildare County Council has approved plans for Diageo to expand its new plant at Littleconnell, Newbridge, Co Kildare. Permission was granted on 24 March.
Diageo has been building a new brewery outside Newbridge since 2024 and this development is understood to be nearing completion. The new planning permission will result in a second brewery being built on the site.
The application is for a 10-year permission for the expansion of the brewery facility.
The expansion is referred to as brewery two in the application and will consist of a single and two-storey building including brewhouse, storage and handling areas, lab, control room, workshop, plant rooms/areas, storage rooms/areas, process areas, utilities and services areas, circulation, office and welfare facilities, and all associated ancillary areas.
There will also be new storage silos, pipe bridges and extensions to raw material handling facilities, according to the application. There will be 12 new storage vessels and three new grain silos. Water utilities and storage will be extended as well as energy facilities and there will be battery storage. An area of 1.5ha of solar panels is also mentioned.
Impact on farmers
It is not clear how the expansion will impact on Irish farmers. The overall plan by Diageo was originally to brew Guinness at St James’s Gate in an upgraded carbon neutral facility and produce other drinks in Newbridge such as Rockshore, Smithwicks and Hop House 13.
However, it would look like the expansion will result in more production and therefore demand for Irish barley, which should be a positive for Irish tillage farmers.
SHARING OPTIONS