Beamish to close with loss of 120 jobs

IRELAND'S OLDEST operating brewery is to close with the loss of about 120 jobs.

Heineken Ireland yesterday announced that it intends closing Beamish Crawford in Cork city and relocating its operations to the multinational's nearby Lady's Well brewery.

The company said that the closure will result in the loss of approximately 120 jobs, while a further 40 will transfer from Beamish Crawford to Lady's Well, where Heineken produces lager and Murphy's stout.

The two operations fell under the same ownership in October when Netherlands-based Heineken NV and Danish giant Carlsberg carved up Beamish's parent Scottish Newcastle in a €10 billion deal.

Once EU and Irish competition watchdogs approved the deal, it meant that Heineken ended up owning two Irish breweries in the same city. This subsequently prompted a review of these operations. At the time it was thought that job losses would result from the merger.

Siptu official Bill Mulcahy, who represents Beamish Crawford workers, said he was disappointed that, following several weeks of talks with management on a redundancy package, the company did not contact the unions with yesterday's news. Staff will be balloted on redundancy terms shortly. The proposed package deals with both redundancy and early retirement.

Mr Mulcahy said the union would seek the best deal possible for workers, and would work to ensure that as many as possible are redeployed.

Heineken Ireland managing director Gerrit van Loo said that the company has agreed comprehensive severance terms with the unions, and added that it would be providing back-up support to departing staff.

Beamish Crawford held the Irish brewing and distribution rights for US brand Miller and Heineken is in talks to maintain that. There was a suggestion that keeping this contract would help ensure that brewing continued at Beamish's site, but a company spokesman said that the talks would have no impact on the review's outcome. Heineken will take over the Beamish's licence for another lager, Carling, which was up for renewal.

Heineken said it decided on the closure after looking at both facilities' capacity, expansion capability and future investment needs.

"This, combined with the high costs of operating two breweries in the city, difficulties associated with expansion at the Beamish Crawford facility and excess brewing capacity at Heineken Ireland, makes the future of the Beamish Crawford plant unsustainable," it said in a statement.

Mr van Loo said the decision was the hardest that Heineken has taken since taking over Murphy's Brewery in 1983. "I regret the impact of today's announcement for them and for their families and I thank them for their commitment and hard work over the years," he said.

Beamish Crawford is the oldest continuously operating brewery in Ireland. Brewing began there in 1690. The transfer will not mean the loss of the Beamish stout brand. It and Murphy's are the only Irish rivals in the market to Guinness.