Poteen to be made in Derry Distillery and it's all legal!

If approved Derry Craft Distillery with a bar and a restaurant, visitor centre and walled garden will create 50 full time jobs and 20 part time positions in the local area.

As well as Poteen, the distillery will create its own unique brand of whiskey, vodka and gin.

When it is opened the Derry Craft Distillery will be the first of its kind in Northern Ireland to produce high quality Poteen since 1925.

The ‘Journal’ understands that the family run business has received support in the form of 2,000 signatures from local people and local business owners.

It also has support letters from political parties including Sinn Fein, the SDLP and DUP.

The business which will be spread over more than 20,000 square feet will operate from 10, 11 and 17 Ebrington Square. The visitor centre will allow for tours and it’s expected that the Derry Craft Distillery could see as many as 23,000 visitors each year.

The distillery part of the business will bring 17 new jobs, with the other positions in the ‘Still’ Bar and in the upstairs restaurant. The Poteen will be marketed as Derry Poteen and the whiskey as Old Derry Whiskey.

If planning permission is granted next month, work could start on the new distillery as early as July. And the bar and restaurant could be opened as early as October with the distillery following in January 2017.

The business will source its ingredients locally.

The planning application for the new distillery was first made in November 2015 and a decision on whether the venture will go ahead is expected to be made in June.

Earlier this week the ‘Journal’ revealed how a private investor is ready to spend £12 million on the construction of a new luxury four star boutique hotel at Ebrington Square.

Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness said: “There have also been quite a few serious expressions of interest in other parts of the Ebrington site from other businesses, proposals which I am really positive about.

“They have the potential to bring serious investment to the site which will help transport Ebrington Square to the next level and thus become a real economic driver for the city and the north-west area.

It is believed that the new hotel will house 151 bedrooms, boasting two conference suites, a banqueting suite to accommodate up to 300 people plus modern bar facilities and a restaurant.