Diageo has confirmed that it is planning to build its new 5mhl brewery on a 73-acre site some 15km west of Dublin at Leixlip in County Kildare. 170 jobs will be created. The site has historical links to Arthur Guinness as his first brewery was opened there back in 1755 before he moved to the city in 1759. Most of the proposed site will be bought from the Guinness family. The remaining 23 acres will be purchased, subject to approval from Kildare County Council. The move is part of a £500M plan announced in May, to cut Irish brewing jobs in half, to close the breweries in Kilkenny and Dundalk, but maintain streamlined production at St James's Gate in Dublin, along with the new facility. Surplus land in Dublin will be sold for development. The new brewery will be Diageo's largest and should be completed by 2013.
