Chartered Institute of Building in Ireland Annual Dinner & Construction Manager of the Year Awards 2015

The Chartered Institute of Building 2015 Construction Manager of the Year Awards took place in the Conrad Hotel Dublin on Friday 5^th June with Gem / Purcell Construction Manager, Ronan Moore receiving the top award for his management of the restoration and rebuild of St Mel’s Cathedral in Longford. St. Mel’s Cathedral is one of Ireland’s most iconic buildings and was destroyed in a catastrophic fire on Christmas Eve in 2009.

Ronan received his title at the CMYA awards dinner in the Conrad hotel on June 5th.

The adjudicators stated the restoration of this magnificent building required exceptional construction management skills and his management of the combination of modern construction techniques and traditional craft skills demonstrated, without any shadow of doubt, how the construction industry in Ireland has the competence and capability to respond to the needs of its clients no matter how challenging.   Ronan led his site team of specialist craftsman and artists with passion and a ‘can do’ attitude. He showed an exceptional level of technical expertise and good humour from beginning to end of the project. The complexity and scale of the various technical aspects of the project were enormous.  The Judges cited one example where 20 plasterers were employed for 7 months to complete the magnificent ceiling.  Similarly, it took one and half weeks to tune the new one million euro pipe organ from Italy.   All works were completed under the close scrutiny of the residents of Longford and experts from a wide range of disciplines and it was as a result of Ronan’s ability to expertly manage all aspects of this project that he walked away with the top prizes of the evening in the form of a gold award in his category and overall title Construction manager of the Year.

It was a night of winners, with 5 gold, 3 Silver and 3 Bronze medals awarded in a number of categories.

The adjudicators said the standard and quality of entries was of an exceptionally high standard with each winner truly deserving of their award.

Mr Ivan McCarthy FCIOB, Chair of the CIOB in Ireland welcomed everyone to the event and outlined in his speech the rigorous judging process, congratulating the finalists for even getting that far in the competition. He also noted that we as an industry should be promoting construction excellence and that these awards show that we have the expertise in construction in Ireland to make a contribution to our economic recovery.

The overall award was presented by the Vice President of the CIOB, Mr Chris Chivers FCIOB. In his speech Chris asked all of the entrants to stand up. He then told the audience that this is what top class construction managers looked like before asking for a round of applause for them all. Chris then went on to say that the entrants had all displayed a commitment in all areas of the build especially in health & safety, programme and quality.

The night itself would not have taken place without the support of all of our sponsors and many joined us on the night to celebrate the awards. Our sponsors for this year’s awards were: Xtratherm, Sig Interiors, E-Tec, Acheson- Glover, Fendor, Jan Janssens, Maor Scaffolding, PJ Personnell, Protect Membranes, Bullivant Taranto, Creagh Concrete, Techrete, Modern Builder, LMC, Kilsarn, Hilti, Courtland estates, STS, FIMA development, DD O’Brien & Co, Mitchell Environmental and Kernohan distribution.

Thanks must also go to the assessors and adjudicators, Chris Chivers, Gillian Fletcher, Louis Gunnigan, Gerry O’Neill, Allan McMullen and Dermot Russell who did a fantastic but unenviable job of selecting winners from such high calibre entrants.

We would also like to thank our VIP guests Mr Tom Parlon of CIF, Mr John O’ Shaughnessy of Master Builders, Mr Brian Gilmore of Building Materials Federation, Mr Kevin Sheridan of Institute of Chartered Engineers, Mr Ralph Montague of CITA, Mr Robin Mandal of RIAI, Mr Kevin Rudden of ACEI.

The dinner which was very well attended by entrants, their employers and colleagues,  judges, sponsors, various CIOB committees and VIP guests all  enjoyed a wonderful evening of food and laughter which was provided by leading Irish comedian Neil Delamere, whose good humoured comments targeted everyone in the room and no one escaped !

We congratulate all of the winners and hope that they will continue to inspire others within the industry. The level of skill among construction managers in Ireland, North and South, is renowned the world over.  They are widely respected and hugely competent individuals who continue to shine.

The winners in each category are:

Category 1.1 (Projects valued up to €5 Million)

Presented by: Mr Philip McMurray of Sig Interiors

• Gold medal winner: Pat O’Connor of Manley Construction for Solas Bhride in Kildare
• Silver medal winner: Damien Manley of Manley construction for Arc Cinema in Drogheda

Category 1.2 (project from €5 – €10 Million)

Presented by: Mr Raymond Acheson from Acheson-Glover

• Gold medal winner: James O’Toole of Walls Group for the Morrison Hotel in Dublin
• Silver Medal winner: Derek McCaffrey of Collen Construction for Blackrock further Education institute
• Bronze medal winner: John Sweeny of Collen Construction for the National Film School in Dun Laoghaire
• Bronze medal winner: Mark Allen of Walls Group for the National Ambulance control centre in Tallaght

Category 1.3 (projects from €10 – €30 Million)

Presented by: Mr Kieran Kennedy of E-Tec

• Gold medal winner: Ronan Moore of Gem/Purcell for St Mel’s Cathedral in Longford
• Silver Medal winner: Liam Flynn of Collen Construction for Fr Scully House in Dublin
• Bronze Medal winner: Joe Hanlon of Walls group for the Mater Private hospital

Category 1.4 (Project over €30 Million)

• Presented by: Mr John Keegan of Xtratherm
• Gold medal winner: Dave Cotter of Sisk for Diageo’s New brew house in St James’s Gate

Gold Medal winner: Darren Devane of BAM for N7 Newlands cross flyover

Construction Manager of the Year 2015

• Presented by: Mr Chris Chivers FCIOB, Senior VP CIOB

Ronan Moore of Gem/Purcell for St Mel’s Cathedral in Longford