A new whiskey distillery being built in Derry plans to create 43 jobs by resurrecting one of the city’s oldest traditions.
It is the first new brewery to be built in the city in 180 years.
Planning approval is now being sought for the £12 million development, which will be located at buildings 11 and 17 in Ebrington Square, a former military barracks which is currently undergoing renovation.
The managing director of the An Fear Ciuin, The Quiet Man Irish Craft Whiskey, Ciaran Mulgrew, gave a video presentation of their plans at a meeting of Derry City and Strabane District Council’s Business and Culture Committee earlier this week.
Mr Mulgrew said the Quiet Man Craft Distillery would take 20 months to construct, with an opening date set for mid-2018.
“We will be building on a long tradition of Irish whiskey making in the city which dates back to 1815, when Alexander Stewart built the city’s first licensed distillery,” he said.
In addition to the distillery, the building will also include a visitor space detailing the history of whiskey in the city, and a “whiskey garden’ to the rear of the building, where Mr Mulgre added visitors can ‘watch the River Foyle wind its way through Derry while enjoying a sample of The Quiet Man.”
He added that they are also launching an eight-year-old single malt and a blended whiskey under the brand “he Quiet Man” named after his father, John Mulgrew, who worked as a bartender who worked for over 50 years in bars around Belfast.
He said that the distillery itself would create eight jobs, while a further 35 people would be employed as guides and other positions such as the café, and had a target of 32,000 visitors in its first year.
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