Guinness production at the beer brand’s original St James’s Gate brewery in Dublin is set to continue under investment plans announced on Thursday by Diageo, its UK parent company, in spite of earlier fears that production at the site could be abandoned.

After a year-long review, the drinks group said the brewery would be “upgraded and consolidated” as part of a €650m (£515m) investment, which envisages the closure of breweries in Kilkenny and Dundalk and the construction of a new brewery outside Dublin that will be Diageo’s biggest investment by its beer division.