Tullamore Dew distillery given green light by planners

The production of Tullamore Dew is definitely coming home, with news that Offaly planners have given the proposed new Tullamore distillery the green light. Last March Tullamore Dew owners William Grant & Sons announced plans to invest €35m in a state-of-the-art pot still and malt whiskey distillery in Tullamore and revive the town's historic distilling tradition. That was followed up with a planning application in October, and on Tuesday last, December 18 that application was granted. The new distillery will be built at Ballard and Clonminch in Tullamore. It will include a pot and malt distillery building, a visitors' centre incorporating a restaurant and shop area, a visitor car park to accommodate 70 cars and three coaches and an employee car park with 52 spaces. The development will see a derelict farmhouse demolished and a new access roundabout to the N52 constructed. Permission given to the project by Offaly planners was accompanied by 28 conditions. It's thought the distillery's two-year construction phase will create something in the region of 100 jobs and will push company employee numbers in Tullamore from approximately twelve to 25. The opening of the distillery will see production of Tullamore Dew return home for the first time since the original distillery closed in 1954.