Donaghadee opening defies lockdown gloom

A local spirits producer is defying the pessimistic outlook by announcing the opening of a dog-friendly coffee shop at its Donaghadee distillery.

The Distillery Café is inside the same building in which The Copeland Distillery has been producing its spirits range since August 2019.

While it’s operating a takeaway service only for the moment, in-line with current restrictions, the venue does offer seating for 12-15 customers indoor and out. Guests and their dogs will have the opportunity to soak in the beautiful views of the neighbouring coastlines and Copeland Islands and watch the Distillery team hard at work mashing, distilling and cask-emptying.

Copeland transformed a derelict movie house in the centre of Donaghadee into its now permanent home, signing a 125-year lease and investing more than £900,000 into the project.

The Copeland Distillery was expecting to welcome thousands of domestic and international visitors this past summer in what would have been its first tourism season, but unfortunately had to close its doors to the public due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Founder of The Copeland Distillery, Gareth Irvine, says that despite the challenges, however, the distillery has been doing its best to thrive:

‘While it’s a positive step forward from a business perspective, we never intended that we’d have to sell takeaway coffee to keep our doors open to the public,’ he adds. ‘We’ve always wanted to do a café of sorts but certainly one that offered cocktails and our classic serves.

‘While it’s just takeaway for now, I’m a huge dog lover and dogs are a huge part of Donaghadee life, so we’ll be making sure we continue to be an inviting and comfortable place for dog owners and walkers as we expand the offering.’

The Distillery Café is open from Wednesday to Sunday, 9:00am to 4:00pm.