First ever Irish Drinks Open Forum event in the west supported by Mayo native

The inaugural Irish Drinks Open Forum, entitled Irish Spirits Renaissance – Let’s Reset, was hosted by BIA Innovator Campus in Athenry, Co. Galway, on September 14 last.

It served as a platform for Ireland’s fast growing spirits and whiskey sector, agri-producers, and start-ups to come together and exchange knowledge, ideas and experiences, providing an opportunity for industry players to discuss current best practices and to strategically position themselves to take advantage in the best and sustainable way, of the rising global demand for Irish spirits and whiskey.

Seventeen speakers and experts from Ireland’s all-island industry across a wide cross-section of spirits producers and brands, suppliers and agencies shared their insights and views to a group of trade delegates visiting the campus for the forum.

The event was attended and supported by Annette Kearney from Killala, co-founder of Dair Nua Cooperage, Foxford.

Commenting on the initiative, Peter Feeney, chair of BIA, said: “Bringing together Ireland’s drinks industry innovators, thought leaders and visionaries will encourage creativity, knowledge exchange and sustainable enterprise development across the Irish spirit and whiskey sector.”

The past 25 years has seen an enormous spirits and whiskey renaissance on the island of Ireland as it re-emerges as one of the world’s leading producers in the global spirits category. From the island having just two distilleries in the 1980s, the expansion has quickly grown to the present-day situation of Ireland now being home to over 40 distilleries distilling over 110 million LPA (litres pure alcohol) of whiskey spirit every year.

Global sales reached 15.2 million cases – over 180 million bottles – in 2022, whilst the value of spirit exports from Ireland soared by 17.3% to almost €1.5 billion in the same year.

This confirms the importance of the industry to the country’s shared economy, north and south. Every year, Irish malt, barley and other grains are produced on the island in substantial volumes.

The Irish Drinks Open Forum presented an opportunity for the spirits industry players in this emerging fast-paced renaissance environment to consider current best practices and to optimally position the industry to capitalise on the rising global demand for its wares. And the theme of resetting put a focus on securing solid long-term and sustainable growth for Ireland – its agricultural and distilling practitioners, its drinks tourism providers, its land, its produce, its people and its skills base.

MC for the forum was Dave Broom, who has been writing and speaking about the subject for over 30 years. He has written 14 books, including A Sense of Place, examining the role of community, culture, location and sustainability in Scotch whisky as well as working on a new edition of his World Atlas of Whisky, which profiles Irish whiskey.

Following the event, delegates had the opportunity to visit the newly opened Ahascragh Distillery in to view their eco-distillery set up.

The event was supported by the Department of Agriculture and was opened by Mr. Martin Heydon, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.