An Bord Pleanála has given the green light to drinks giant, Diageo, to construct its planned €200m brewery for Newbridge, Co Kildare.
With the appeals board granting planning permission to the project, the new brewery for Littleconnell is to provide a major boost to the Kildare area of up to 1,000 jobs during the 20 month construction period and will lead to the creation of a further 70 jobs when operational.
The new facility, which will operate 24 hours a day 365 days a year, is to brew lagers and ales including Rockshore, Harp, Hop House 13, Smithwick's, Kilkenny and Carlsberg.
In a statement on Monday, Diageo state that it expects to commence construction work on the project "in early 2024".
A Diageo spokeswoman said that its welcomes the decision by An Bord Pleanála to grant planning permission for Ireland’s first purpose built, carbon neutral brewery in Kildare.
"This €200m investment by Diageo in Ireland will support the growth of our beer brands while meeting our targets to be net zero by 2030," she said.
"The benefits of this project are compelling and we expect to commence work to commence in early 2024."
An Bord Pleanála has twice deferred a decision on the appeal due to the backlog in cases it is currently dealing with.
In September, Diageo warned that the project is time sensitive "and further delays will jeopardise the rationale for this €200 million investment in Ireland".
The brewery is to be built on a 21.36 hectare site at the IDA Newbridge Business and Technology Park to the east of a Lidl Distribution Centre.
The state-of-the-art brewery is to be powered with 100% renewable energy and will harness the latest process technology to minimise overall energy and water consumption.
As the production of lagers and ales is transferred to the new facility it will enable St James’s Gate to increase the production of Guinness to meet global demand.
The appeals board granted planning permission for the Diageo proposal after concluding that it would not give rise to a risk of serious pollution given its regulation under licence from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Attaching 19 conditions to the planning permission, the appeals board also concluded that the scheme "would not seriously injure the amenities of the area of or property in the vicinity and would not have a negative impact on archaeological or cultural heritage".
The appeals board also concluded that the proposal is in accordance with the planned industrial expansion of Newbridge Business and Technology Park and would be acceptable in terms of traffic safety and convenience.
- reporting by Gordon Deegan
