Cautious optimism expressed over latest Diageo investment in Kildare
Cautious optimism has been expressed over Diageo’s latest investment in County Kildare .
Fianna Fáil councillor Rob Power expressed the view following the news that beverages giant Diageo announced a major investment for its Littleconnell brewery, which is located just outside of Newbridge.
Diageo recently confirmed plans to develop a new Guinness brewery in County Kildare over the next three years. The business also said that work on the facility is to begin this year under a €400 million euro investment at its Littleconnell site.
Speaking about the announcement, Cllr Power welcomed the investment, but also warned that the ‘public benefit from the development cannot be left to take care of itself’.
According to Cllr Power, who represents the Kildare-Newbridge Municipal District, the scale of the commitment ‘must now translate into two specific actions’.
He said that these actions should include: “the front-loading of investment in the second bridge for Newbridge by Kildare County Council, and also immediate action by central government and Uisce Éireann on the water pressure and water quality issues that residents across the town have been asked to tolerate for far too long”.
Cllr Power elaborated: “Yesterday's announcement is welcome, but a welcome is the easy part; an investment of this scale is only good news for Newbridge if the people of the town see the benefit of it.
“That means infrastructure on the ground, in this town, that improves daily life for the families who live here.”
“The single most important piece of infrastructure this town needs is the second bridge; it has been talked about for years.
“What has changed this week is that we now have absolute clarity that commercial rates flowing into Kildare County Council from Littleconnell are going to rise significantly in the years ahead; that gives us the assurance we need to front-load the investment in the second bridge today.
He also warned: “We cannot wait until 2029 or whenever the new facility is fully built before we start spending.
“The funds are coming and the need is already here; Kildare County Council should now act on that certainty and bring the second bridge forward as a matter of urgency.
“I will be pressing that case at both Municipal District and at full Council level.”
He further said: “The same urgency has to apply to water; residents across Newbridge are dealing with water pressure and water quality issues every week.
“Families in this town are putting up with conditions that no community should be asked to tolerate; they have been patient long enough.”
In addition, he claimed: “Let me put this plainly: if Diageo, Pfizer, Keurig Dr Pepper and the other major employers around Newbridge were experiencing the water pressure and quality problems that our residents live with, it would be treated as a critical risk to the local economy and resolved without delay.
“The exact same urgency must be felt by those responsible for water infrastructure when it is families, schools and older people who are affected; our residents deserve no less than a major employer would expect.”
"Central government and Uisce Éireann need to act now; not after the next phase of investment, not when a problem at the brewery forces the issue; now."
He concluded by asserting that he would also be raising the water issues in Newbridge formally over the coming weeks.
Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.