LATEST: An Bord Pleanála to uphold planning permission for Diageo's proposed brewery in Newbridge, County Kildare

An Bord Pleanála (ABP) has announced that it will uphold planning permission for beverage giant Diageo's proposed brewery in Newbridge.

The new brewery will be the first built by the company in Ireland since the 1960s.

Last week, it was reported that the man at the centre of RTÉ Investigates allegations concerning payments to objectors in the planning system confirmed that no financial inducement was sought or offered in connection with the withdrawal of his appeal against Diageo's planned €200 million brewery.

Today, Kildare South TD, Minister Martin Heydon, has said that he welcomes ABP's decision.

The Fine Gael politician said: "Diageo's plans for a €200m carbon neutral brewery at a greenfield site in Littleconnell, Newbridge represents a massive investment in Kildare South.

"I am pleased that the planning decision of Kildare County Council has been upheld and plans for the development can proceed."

Minister of State Martin Heydon with Constance Balsamo, head of policy, Diageo Ireland, and Aidan Crowe, operations director, beer, Diageo Ireland. Picture: Kenneth O’Halloran.

He continued: "This brewery, which will create up to 1,000 jobs in the construction phase, highlights Kildare South as an ideal location for investment and employment.

"Locally, we have a talented, well educated workforce, many of whom currently commute to Dublin for work, and I am determined to support delivery of quality employment opportunities like this in Kildare."

Minister Heydon also said: "As Minister of State in the Department of Agriculture, I see huge potential in increasing the economic value of our food and drink sector, and the jobs that follow from that.

"I look forward to seeing Ireland's first carbon neutral brewery come to fruition for the benefit of Kildare South and Ireland," he concluded.

Newbridge Oireachtas member, Senator Fiona O’Loughlin has welcomed the decision by An Bord Pleanala to uphold the planning approval previously granted by Kildare County Council for the construction of state of the art, carbon-neutral €200m brewery in Little Connell in Newbridge.

Fiona  said “I am delighted that the planning permission for Diageo’s €200m brewery in Newbridge was upheld by An Bord Pleanala.

I facilitated a planning meeting with Kildare County Council planners in recent months and pushed hard to highlight its strategic importance to the Minister for Local Government Darragh O'Brien TD, so I am delighted to see a positive result.”

“This project will be a huge boost for our local economy with up to 1,000 construction jobs being created, as well as high quality long terms roles on site.”

Fiona concluded “This will be a carbon-neutral brewery in Little Connell in Newbridge. It is a huge win, and a huge vote of confidence in the future commercial viability of Newbridge.”