Locals and green group oppose whiskey warehouse planned near Co Cork village

Cork County Council’s grant of planning permission for a “whiskey maturation warehouse” to be located north of Leap has been appealed to Bord Pleanála by local residents and an environmental charity.

West Cork Distillers, which was established in Cork in 2003, had applied to the council for a total of 12 warehouses, citing a lack of suitable space for expansion in Cork City. In granting the permission, Cork County Council reduced the number of warehouses by half, to six.

The growth in sales of Irish whiskey has been marked in recent years. In 2010 there were just four operational distilleries in Ireland, but by last year the number had grown to nearly 40, with new distilleries in places like Drumshanbo, Co Leitrim and estates such as Slane Castle in Co. Meath, Powerscourt Estate in Co. Wicklow and Hazelwood Estate on Lough Gill in Co. Sligo. Investment has in some cases been on a large scale. In Tullamore, Co. Offaly, more than €100 million has been invested in developing a new grain-to-glass production campus.

Dublin has also shared in the growth with two distilleries on James Street and two at Newmarket / Mill Street. Much of the sales have come from the export market.

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In seeking planning permission for the whiskey maturation warehouse in Tullig, West Cork Distillers said it needed the space to facilitate further growth.

[ How West Cork went from distilling at home to global brand ]

Cork County Council’s permission is one of a number of such developments appealed in rural Ireland including counties Cork, Kildare, Louth, Galway, Sligo, Weatmeath and Meath, according to Bord Pleanála.

In their appeal residents of Tullig and Reenascreena said “the culture and character of the area are defined by its agricultural nature” The appeal said the development proposed by West Cork Distillers “is more than just jarring: it is at odds with every fibre of the location’s rural heritage and identity”.

An online petition garnered some 1,220 signatures in the relatively lowly populated rural area. Some 132 signatures on a formal objection were also recorded.

[ Irish whiskey roaring back after decades of decline ]

The West Cork based national environmental charity Friends of the Irish Environment which last year successfully challenged permission for a €10m Dursey Island interpretative centre, submitted a detailed objection to the whiskey maturation warehouse in 2022.

Both the appeal by the residents and by FIE cited the council’s planning officer’s acknowledgment that “more suitable locations could be found close to transport hubs in areas such as Little Island and Ringaskiddy”.

However consultants for the developers told Cork County Council the development complied with a national and local policy objectives to provide for the rural economy through on and off farm enterprises.