Lisgar Gardens in Bailieborough represents the Carty Group's fourth major project in Cavan. This high-quality housing development on the Virginia Road comprises 50 units on a stunning elevated site and prompted 'Breffni Blue' to take a closer look… Though the genesis of Carty Contractors Ltd. - building, civil engineering and plant hire contractors - occurred in County Fermanagh, the company is today headquartered in Ballisodare, County Sligo. The Carty family has been involved in civil engineering construction for almost 70 years, ever since P Carty & Sons was founded in the 1930s by the late Patrick Carty of Garrison, Co. Fermanagh. Carty Contractors Ltd. is now part of the overall Carty Group. The Carty Group has grown and evolved over the years, specialising in projects like water mains, sewers, reservoirs, treatment works, roads, bridges, marine works (including slipways and jetties), site development works and industrial buildings. The Carty family has always maintained an extensive involvement in parochial and GAA activities. In 1939, the late Patrick Carty built St Marys Parish Hall in Garrison, which remains the centre of all parish activities. Patrick was also one of the founding members of the local GAA club, now known as Devenish. He was involved in the purchase of the ground for the GAA park in Garrison. Along with his brothers, he played regularly for the club and that tradition was carried on into the 60s when his late son, Patrick Carty Jnr., wore the traditional blue jersey and was a member of the team that claimed the senior championship for the first time. The relationship between the Carty family and the GAA is a strong one, which was sustained by the next generation of Cartys. Since those early days the company has annually sponsored the club's activities. For some years, Carty Contractors has also been one of the main sponsors of the Sligo senior football team. Over the years they have also been involved in sponsorship with Donegal and Fermanagh at both club and county level. The company has worked extensively in the Cavan area for the last ten years and has recently worked on the Bailieborough Regional Water Supply Scheme and the Annagh Group Water Scheme. Carty Contractors is also active in the supply of housing schemes in the Cavan area. They recently completed 84 houses in Ballyconnell, called Bothar Bui and Bothar Glas. The company is currently developing houses in the Bailieborough area and is supplying units to social housing under the Part V scheme. John Hutchinson is site foreman on the Bailieborough project, a development of 50 high quality three- and four-bedroom semi-detached houses called Lisgar Gardens, on the Virginia Road. He reveals: "We are placing a major emphasis on the presentation of the site. Both the landscaping and the homes themselves will be finished to a very high spec. The development is taking place on a beautiful, elevated site which lends itself to extensive landscaping. "Professional workmanship and protecting the environment are of utmost importance to the Carty Group and both these commitments will be very obvious at Lisgar Gardens. We're incorporating some green energy, including supercharged gas boilers and solar panels. We're very much aware of the problem of global warming and we're trying to do our bit to try to protect the environment." Construction commenced in late January and the aim is to have houses available for sale by June/July. The Carty Group constructs traditional block-built houses with solid concrete floors upstairs, minimising the use of flammable materials. The end result is a durable house with a long lifespan. "We try to emphasise safety, quality and green issues, all of which are considered with cost in mind." The actual name of the development typifies the Carty Group's policy of coming up with something that ties in with the actual area itself. Lord and Lady Lisgar were largely responsible for establishing the town of Bailieborough in the first place and developed its original lay-out. They were the pioneers behind the birth of Bailieborough and Lisgar Gardens is a fitting testament to them. And more respectful developers than Carty Group could not have been found to erect the new development in honour of the town's founders. The site manager continues: "We have a carefully-considered aftersales service. Obviously, it is vital to finish the house as well as possible in the first place. The last thing we want is a disgruntled customer, so it's always worth putting a little bit of extra effort into finishing the house as well as possible." Under the conditions of a new Government directive, developers are asked to make a certain percentage of affordable homes available on their sites. To this end, Carty Group has made an allowance for some affordable homes at Lisgar Gardens. John expects work on the Bailieborough scheme to continue for most of the 2007calendar year, with up to 50 employees on site during peak times. Regarding the Bothar Bui/Glas development in Ballyconnell, he notes: "That was actually how we got started in Cavan. It was our first development in the county and hopefully it's the beginning of a long relationship between the Carty Group and Cavan. Ballyconnell was a 90-home development and all of those have been sold already. Most of these are now occupied by foreigners, who keep the properties extremely well and have settled well into the estate and into the community. The majority of them are Polish nationals; they're all in employment working for the Quinn Group and they keep the houses well…" Sean Fenton is Quantity Surveyor with the Carty Group. A Kerry man born and reared, he points out: "We have now done four major projects in Cavan now - the two housing developments, the Bailieborough Regional Water Supply Scheme and the Annagh Group Water Scheme. Carty Properties has also purchased a site in Cavan town and we're hoping to carry out a new housing development there as well." Looks like the relationship between the Carty Group and Cavan is set to become even stronger. Tweet

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