An Tánaiste visits Dublin’s Roe & Co Distillery as Ireland’s brewery and distillery visitor centres anticipate stronger summer ahead
An Tánaiste Leo Varadkar, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, toured Roe & Co Distillery in Dublin 8, as drinks-related visitor centres across Ireland prepare for a stronger summer ahead and begin to recover from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The visit was hosted by Diageo, which owns Roe & Co Distillery, and Drinks Ireland, which represents drinks manufacturers and suppliers.
Drinks Ireland’s #TogetherAgain campaign is celebrating the reopening of visitor centres and the wider hospitality sector, which will support tourism and the wider economy in the months ahead.
Irish drinks brands have created world-class attractions, catering to international and domestic visitors across the country. They cumulatively attracted over 3 million visitors in 2019, 88% from abroad. There were over 1 million visitors to Irish whiskey distilleries alone that year, including Roe & Co.
Ireland’s brewery and distillery visitor centres are also intrinsically linked to the wider hospitality sector. There are around 7,000 hospitality venues across Ireland, vital for the country’s tourism offering.
Drinks Ireland said that 2019 is a benchmark year for visitor centres, as they bounce back from Covid-19.
Barry O’Sullivan, Managing Director of Diageo Ireland said:
“We are delighted to welcome An Tánaiste to the Roe & Coe Distillery. Together with the Guinness Storehouse, these facilities and visitor centres are an important part of Dublin’s and Ireland’s tourism infrastructure. They also showcase some of our most iconic brands, together with the heritage and history that underpins them and of which we are extremely proud.”
Pat Rigney, Chair of Drinks Ireland and Managing Director and Founder of The Shed Distillery of PJ Rigney in Co. Leitrim said:
“Ireland’s drinks visitor centres are vital for the economy of our cities, rural towns and villages across the country, and it’s wonderful to be able to host domestic and international visitors again. These visitor attractions have a tremendous knock-on effect on local economies by increasing dwell time around the country and growing spend locally.”
Patricia Callan, Director of Drinks Ireland said:
“We’re delighted to host An Tánaiste Leo Varadkar, to celebrate being #TogetherAgain as Ireland’s visitor centres and the wider hospitality sector continues to reopen and recover. It’s been a challenging two years, but the drinks industry has proudly provided significant support to hospitality centres to ensure they could remain viable. Government support was also important in this regard.”
As part of its #TogetherAgain campaign, Drinks Ireland has released a video celebrating the reopening of the hospitality sector. here
For more on #TogetherAgain visit: www.drinksireland.ie and follow @DrinksIreland on Twitter.
Media contact
Drinks Ireland: Colin Taylor, Q4PR, 0864671748
