Jobs Minister Mary Mitchell O’Connor visited Walsh Whiskey in Royal Oak yesterday

A Carlow-based distillery got the seal of approval from the Jobs Minister yesterday.

Mary Mitchell O’Connor took a tour of the new Walsh Whiskey distillery at Royal Oak, where 32 people are currently employed.

The jobs minister was in Carlow yesterday, on an informal visit alongside Fine Gael TD Pat Deering.

She gave her seal of approval to the new €25m Walsh Whiskey distillery at Royal Oak.

Bernard and Rosemary Walsh brought distilling back to Carlow after a 200-year absence, with the creation of the distillery and visitor centre which opened its doors in June 2016.

32 people are currently employed at the local distillery, with that number expected to grow to 55 in the future.

‘The Irishman’ and ‘Writers tears’ whiskeys are currently maturing, and will be ready for shipping in 2019 to the 40 countries they are sold in worldwide.

Minister Mitchell O’Connor met with members of the team yesterday, and was given a personal tour of the whiskey distilling process.