Corporate lawyer turned whiskey distiller June O'Connell talks to The ieBusiness Podcast
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Before the pandemic, June O’Connell decided to leave her well-established career in corporate law to make premium spirits in her home village Cahersiveen, County Kerry.
She set up SkelligSix18, a €10m micro-distillery, in 2019 out of an old textile factory with investors Patrick Sugrue and her husband Paddy Cooney.
Then the pandemic hit, and all of a sudden the interest in making premium spirits spiked and there was a renaissance of whiskey and gin distillers in Ireland, with several popping up across the country over recent years.
In the latest episode of The ieBusiness Podcast, Ms O’Connell talks about navigating that competitive environment, taking on the big players in the global spirits market and why she would like to see more Irish people take an interest in where their whiskey comes from.
“I would love to see Irish people talking about Irish whiskey like the French talk about French wine,” said Ms O’Connell.
She added that her past life as a lawyer proved useful when navigating certain investment schemes like the Employment Investment Incentive Scheme (EIIS) for setting up a distillery.
“Certainly, the rules are very very technical and the rules in the UK are less technical. Which means more people take a chance more often and therefore there is more funding available to UK businesses,” said Ms O’Connell.
Listen to a new episode of The ieBusiness Podcast, in association with PwC, every Thursday wherever you listen to your podcasts.