The Chairman of the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland (DIGI), Kieran Tobin, has said that the drinks market in Ireland suffered a major 8.9% decline in 2009 as a result of falling consumption driven by the historically weak national economic situation and ongoing cross-border purchasing of alcohol. Mr Tobin was speaking at the publication of the “Drinks Market Performance 2009”, compiled by DCU economist Anthony Foley, in The Bank Bar, Dublin, this morning.
Mr Tobin said that our per capita consumption has fallen 21% since the peak of the economic boom in 2001, and that overall consumption is now back to the pre-Celtic Tiger levels of 1995/96. These factors of declining consumption and cross-border trade, combined with lower tourism and with consumer confidence at an all time low, have resulted in a loss of 15,000 jobs across the sector in the last 18 months. Total employment in the industry now stands at 80,000 jobs. . . . . .
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