An Bord Pleanála has granted approval for the development of Diageo’s new €200m brewery in Kildare.

The brewery was initially granted permission in March, but the decision was appealed by local man John Lynch from Athy, Co Kildare, and the Meath-based organisation Sustainability 2050, which John Callaghan, the man at the centre of the recent RTÉ Investigates programme into planning appeals, is involved with.

However, on 27 November, Sustainability 2050 withdrew its appeal to the brewery, days before the RTÉ programme aired.

After the withdrawal, An Bord Pleanála still had to assess the second third-party appeal from farmer and Kildare man Lynch, who argued that the location of the new brewery should be moved on environmental grounds to Athy, which he claimed was "the malting barley capital of Ireland".

In the submission, Lynch claimed that Athy has the only malting barley plant in the country, as well as the only can factory.

He argued that no other town could reduce the distance from "field to can or keg" by a greater amount and in such an environmentally friendly manner.

However, the board disagreed with this and stated that it believes the development would be in accordance with the proper planning and sustainable development of the area.

30,000 tonnes of malt

The application was granted subject to 20 conditions. The brewery is set to be carbon-neutral, using up to 30,000t of malting barley each year and providing up to 1,000 jobs during the 20-month construction period and a further 70 jobs when operational.

The new facility, which will operate 24 hours per 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, Diageo stated that it expects to commence construction work on the project in early 2024.

An Bord Pleanála delays

The case was due to be determined on 20 November, but was delayed due to a continuing significant backlog of cases at board level.

In a letter to Diageo, An Bord Pleanála said that the backlog had arisen in the context of reduced capacity at Bord Pleanála level in the first half of 2023 due to a turnover of board personnel in that period.

However, it stated that capacity at board level has since been restored by the appointment of new board members and the board is now addressing the existing backlog of cases.

The decision was delivered within less than three weeks of the statutory date and Sustainability 2050's appeal being withdrawn.

An Bord Pleanála has come under sharp criticism due to severe delays in dealing with cases, which came to light during the RTE Investigates programme. Many renewable energy projects are waiting between one and two years for a decision.