A €17 million expansion resulting in 30 new jobs has just been announced by Irish Distillers at an event which marks 50 years of bottling at its Fox and Geese facility in Clondalkin, Dublin.

The investment, which was officially announced by Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton TD, reflects the incredible pace of growth in the Irish whiskey category and will increase bottling capacity at the site from 5 million 9-litre cases to 7.5 million cases – or 120 million bottles – of Jameson per year by 2017.

Irish Distillers has been supported by the Department of Jobs through Enterprise Ireland.

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The Fox and Geese bottling site was first home to bottling of Powers Irish Whiskey, which relocated from Drury Street in 1965. Irish Distillers was formed in 1966 and became part of global spirits company Pernod Ricard in 1988, which repatriated bottling of Jameson Irish whiskey to the Dublin facility. Last year the facility bottled over 60 million bottles of Irish whiskey.

Speaking at the event, Minister Bruton said: “I am delighted to welcome this great announcement by Irish Distillers. 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. Irish whiskey is one such area, and in recent years we have seen hundreds of extra jobs in this area on the back of rapidly growing exports. Today’s announcement by Irish Distillers is a great example of how investment in this area can create much-needed jobs right across the country”.

Speaking at the event, Anna Malmhake, CEO of Irish Distillers said: “Today marks a landmark moment in the history of Fox and Geese as we celebrate 50 years of bottling here and an expansion which will increase bottling capacity at the site by 60%. This is part of a wider investment programme which saw €200 million expansion of our distillery in Midleton and our maturation facility in Dungourney, Co Cork.

“Irish Distillers’ portfolio of brands has been growing by double-digits for the last twenty years and we are continuously investing in our operations to keep pace with demand. Our long-term vision is for Irish whiskey to regain its place as the biggest whiskey category in the world. Investing in critical infrastructure such as the Fox and Geese bottling facility will enable us to realise that vision.”

Welcoming the announcement, Michael Cantwell, Head of Enterprise Ireland’s Food Division said: “Supporting innovation is at the heart of Enterprise Ireland’s strategy and we are delighted to work with Irish Distillers right across the country as they build their global business from Ireland”.