Pat Rigney has today been appointed chair of Drinks Ireland|Spirits, the representative body responsible for promoting the interests of the Irish spirits industry.
He will succeed Aoife Clarke, senior director of international public affairs at Beam Suntory in his new role.
Rigney is the managing director and founder of The Shed Distillery in Co. Leitrim, which makes Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin.
“Ireland’s spirits industry continues to go from strength to strength. The value of spirits exports from Ireland increased by 10.2% between 2017 and 2018, from €916 million to over €1 billion," Rigney said.
"We also have a dynamic domestic spirits market, driven by the growing popularity of premium spirits products like Irish whiskey and gin."
“Looking forward, we want to continue to drive this growth, but there are also a number of imminent issues ahead, including tariffs and Brexit.
New Vice Chair
The representative body also announced that Bryan Fallon, director of TJ Carolan’s has been appointed as vice-chair.
Drinks Ireland|Spirits was established in 1997 and acts as a voice among national and EU policy makers for issues such as taxation, trade and the ongoing international protection of Ireland’s Geographic Indicators (GIs).
© 2019 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Donna Ahern. Click subscribe to sign up for the Checkout print edition.
