The Construction Industry Federation (CIF ) has hailed a Westmeath company a“one of the success stories of the recession”. Shay Murtagh, a precast concrete specialist company based in Raharney just outside Mullingar, were visited by a delegation from the CIF during the week.
During the course of a tour of the facilities, Ciaran Murtagh, managing director of Shay Murtagh explained that following the economic downturn and the difficulties experienced by the Irish construction sector, 80 per cent of the company’s business was now overseas.
Successes have included securing a contract for the major Crossrail project in London, with UK clients now regularly using the Westmeath-based outfit ahead of their British competitors.
Speaking after the site visit, CIF director general Tom Parlon paid tribute to the company. “Since the downturn began the construction sector in this country has been through a very difficult period. The level of activity and work has fallen dramatically and that has had a major impact on all Irish companies involved with the construction industry.
“With so much bad news in the sector it comes as a huge relief to come across a company that has managed to succeed despite the difficult circumstances. Shay Murtagh precasts is one of the success stories of the recession. They have managed to grow their business at a time when many others in the industry are struggling to keep going.
“Securing contracts like the work they are doing for the Crossrail project is very impressive and shows that Shay Murtagh is on top of their game. They have been able to secure work on prestigious foreign projects which again speaks to the excellent quality of their products and the thorough service they provide to their customers.
“My CIF colleagues and I were very impressed with all we got to see during the course of our visit to their site. We hope they will be able to expand further on their success and that we will see more Irish construction successes come to the fore in the near future,” Mr Parlon concluded.
