|
In 1966, the run down, and only
remaining Distilleries in the Republic of Ireland -
Jameson and
Power's of Dublin, and
Cork Distilleries Co.
of Midleton - decided to form the United Distillers of Ireland to combine
their resources to compete against the Scotch Whisky Industry and to regain
their share of the international spirits market. The Company soon changed their name to Irish Distillers Group as the Initials UDI (also Unilateral Declaration of Independence) had an unfortunate political meaning in the UK at the time. Old Bushmills Distillery in Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland, joined IDG in 1972, who from then on controlled every drop of Irish Whiskey sold. Jameson's Bow Street Distillery ceased production in 1971. The Jameson Brands were now produced across the Liffey at Power's Distillery in John's Lane which dated from 1791. Old Midleton Distillery had been producing Whiskey since 1825. In 1974, the decision was made to build a new state-of-the-art Distillery in Midleton, and transfer all distilling to it after construction had finished in July 1975. Since then, Irish Distillers Group have relaunched their famous Brands, such as Jameson, Power's, Paddy, Redbreast, Tullamore Dew, and Bushmills and have been marketing them successfully. In 1988, IDG was bought by France based Groupe Pernod-Ricard who won the takeover battle against the Irish Competitors Guinness, Gilbey's, and Cantrell & Cochrane. The takeover by Pernod-Ricard, a big player in the international spirits market, gave IDG Access to their global distribution network. |