HERITAGE CAMPAIGNERS have vowed to fight the sale of Cork’s historic Beamish and Crawford site after its owners Heineken Ireland confirmed it would be put on the market.
Heineken took over the plant last year and announced in December its intention to shut it down with the loss of 120 jobs. The brewery was due to close yesterday but the closure has now been postponed until mid-May.
Heineken corporate affairs manager Declan Farmer said the decision to sell the site followed an evaluation process of both its breweries in Cork – the Beamish brewery and the Murphy’s brewery at Leitrim Street.
“It was decided to consolidate production here at Leitrim Street and while we are very aware of the archaeological value of the Beamish site, for business reasons we have made the decision to sell it,” Mr Farmer said.
The National Conservation and Heritage Group (NCHG) had lobbied Heineken Ireland to develop a micro-brewery tourist centre on the site. It said it would mobilise public opinion to save the 4½ acre plot.
NCHG chairman Damien Cassidy said: “We had engaged with Heineken and they had taken our points on board. But now everything they told us is out the window.
“They will close it down, clean it off and sell it off, leaving it in the hands of developers.”
Brewing activity at the site, off South Main Street in Cork city centre, stretches back 400 years.