Minister Ged Nash DROGHEDA'S VOICE AT CABINET September 2015
MINISTER GED NASH ANNOUNCES 80 NEW JOBS FOR DROGHEDA I am delighted to announce that 80 new jobs are being created in a new distillery, craft brewery and visitor centre in Drogheda, Boann Distillery. We are welcoming back one of Drogheda’s most successful sons, Pat Cooney, to his hometown for this exciting new venture. Pat left Drogheda in 1965 to pursue a career in accountancy and later in business. Fifty years later, he and his wife Marie and four of their children are “coming home” to open Boann Distillery. My Department, through Enterprise Ireland, is supporting this new business. The 80 new jobs that are being created will be in management, production, business development, logistics, R & D and hospitality through the visitor centre. Recruitment for the first jobs will begin shortly with some positions being filled before the end of the year.
About Bohann This €20 million euro facility will be a state of the art distillery in the heart of the Boyne Valley. Named after the goddess Boann, after whom the River Boyne is named, this new business marries the ancient skills of distilling and brewing with modern technology and world class infrastructure. The philosophy of the companies is “grain to glass” and it is pledging to ensure that every raw material is 100% natural and 100% Irish.
THE DISTILLERY AND BREWHOUSE The site for Boann Distillery is the old McCabes’ car showroom on the Platin Rd. This is a massive 50,000 square foot development and it is fantastic to see the activity around the site after the original car showroom closed down. One part of the business - Boann Distillery - is dedicated to distilling and will see whiskey, gin, vodka and cream liqueurs made on site. When fully up and running, it will be capable of producing one million litres of spirits. Another part, the Boyne Brewhouse will see craft beers and cider brewed on site and has a capacity of 15,000 hectolitres. A strong focus of the business will be the export market but at the same time not neglecting the domestic scene.
CONTACT GED NASH TD
Connolly Hall, Palace Street, Drogheda Office: 041 9810811 Follow me on Facebook
Email: gerald.nash@oir.ie Web: www.geraldnash.com @geraldnash
TOURIST ATTRACTION 2016 will see the opening of the visitor centre element of Boann Distillery. There will be tours of the whiskey distillery and the brewery, with the opportunity to taste the products made on site. There are plans for a 120 seater restaurant and space for conferencing and events. And there will be a whiskey snug, which is very close to Pat’s heart. Given its location in the heart of the Boyne Valley and part of Ireland’s Ancient East, this development is excellent news for the tourism potential of Drogheda and the wider region.
A Proud Family Business Pat Cooney and his family bring a wealth of experience in the drinks industry with them to Boann Distillery. Over the past thirty years, they have grown from a small wholesaler to a major national producer and distributor of alcoholic drinks, soft drinks and water. They produced drinks like Finches, Country Springs and Cadet as well as cream liqueurs. A couple of years ago they sold part of this business to C & C Group, and since then have been looking for a new business opportunity
EAST COAST BAKEHOUSE STILL ON COURSE TO PROVIDE 100 JOBS Early this Summer in June, Drogheda got another boost with the announcement of another new company creating 100 jobs as part of a €15 million investment facility also supported by my department through Enterprise Ireland. Michael Carey and Alizon Cowzer, the dynamic team behind East Coast Bakehouse have kept me up to date with their progress. Happily they are on schedule towards achieving a commercial start of trading in Q1 next year. Equipment is now being manufactured and will be delivered and installed through the coming months. Development of biscuit products is underway and they have had some constructive discussions with retailers. Michael and Alison have also been in contact with local service providers with a view to setting up contracts, which would give a further boost to our local economy.
DROGHEDA TOWN BOUNDARY REVIEW PUBLIC INFORMATION MEETING BOYNE VALLEY HOTEL, SEPT 9TH, 7.30PM Earlier this year I worked with Environment Minister Alan Kelly to secure a major review of Drogheda’s town boundary with County Meath. In my opinion, it goes against every principle of sensible planning that Drogheda has almost 6,000 people living in estates on the fringes of the town such as Millmount Abbey, Grange Rath and Highlands, who are forced to depend on a Council based in Navan for all of their local services. An extension of the boundary of Drogheda makes economic, social and planning sense. I believe boundary lines should be drawn according to regional need and not confined to traditional county divisions, particularly in cases where those divisions are clearly out of date. County boundaries should no longer act as a straitjacket blocking the natural development of towns like Drogheda. I am aware however that people living in these areas will want to have as much information as possible and the chance to have their voices heard. To that end I have ensured that the commission set up to review the boundary will be accepting public submissions. I have also arranged a public information evening in the Boyne Valley Hotel for Wednesday September 9th at 7.30pm. The guest speakers on the night will be Dr Brian Hughes from Dublin Institute of Technology, lecturer in Urban Economics and one of Ireland's foremost experts in Spatial Strategy and the President of Drogheda & District Chamber of Commerce, Eddie Phelan.
Minister Ged Nash TD
Constituency Office: Connolly Hall, Palace Street, Drogheda Phone: 041 981 0811
Email: gerald.nash@oir.ie Fax: 01 618 4397 Follow me on Facebook @geraldnash 0612
Dáil Office: Leinster House, Kildare Street, Dublin 2