If Meath GAA is to prosper in future years as it has done so gloriously in the past, then the explosion of high-quality construction projects taking place all over the Royal County will contribute in a big way. One company playing a major role in the Navan area is Down-headquartered O'Hare & McGovern, who are currently busy on the Phase 9 public housing scheme at Windtown. Navan continues to grow. Meath's county town is now a fully-fledged satellite of the capital and growth at its heart, on both sides of the Boyne artery, is relentless. Mushrooming beyond recognition on an annual basis, Navan is a prime vibrant, prosperous urban centre that is, quite simply, second to none. It's a great place to live and the appeal is growing all the time as more residential, commercial and industrial buildings pop up, not to mention a vastly-improved road network. Down the line, this economic boom will have a positive knock-on effect on local GAA, as clubs will have more numbers to choose from and, no doubt, even better facilities as Navan - and all of County Meath - continues to prosper. How ironic that Meath is getting stronger as a direct result of nestling on the Dubs' doorstep! O'Hare & McGovern has played a major role in recent developments in Navan - most specifically at Windtown, where the company is currently working on the Phase 9 scheme, their latest venture in the locality. Company director Eamon O'Hare reveals: "We have done a lot of work in the Windtown area. This is our fourth public housing contract there and we also built the swimming pool in that location - which was actually our first project in Navan." Remaining in Meath, the company also constructed the civil office in Dunshaughlin - an all-concrete structure boasting a very unique and appealing design. On the Meath/Louth border, Drogheda Swimming Pool is one of many O'Hare & McGovern projects to have garnered a construction excellence award. O'Hare & McGovern is a chartered construction firm based at Carnbane House, Shepherds Ware, Carnbane Industrial Estate in Newry. Having completed a number of similar projects in the immediate and general area, they have been appointed principle contractor on Navan Phase 9. Phase 9 comprises a total of 90 residential units - seven bocks of three-tier apartments and 69 houses. The main contractor expects to have the first phase of this project completed in time for Christmas. This will entail 30 house units and six apartments. The overall scheme should be completed by July 2008. The project is all part of a long-term vision from Meath County Council's housing section to build some 800 social houses over a five-year period. O'Hare & McGovern has a proven track record of working for Meath Co. Co. and the local authority is on record as being extremely happy with the service provided by the County Down company. O'Hare & McGovern specialises in residential and commercial projects. Recently, they completed a swimming pool and gymnasium for Meath County Council off Winetown Road. Three years ago, they also completed an earlier phase of the current development at Winetown for the Council - a project of 102 units in total. Warrenstown man Raymond Binks was foreman on both those projects. Angelo Bigeleno from South Africa is the other senior foreman on location in Navan at present, while Portadown, County Armagh native Stephen McClatchey is contracts manager. A number of affordable houses will be included in the current scheme and all homes will be finished to the highest specification. At the time of writing, O'Hare & McGovern had up to 80 men on site at Winetown. This is in addition to their many other activities, providing a variety of work nationwide (and beyond). Present projects include one at Queens University Belfast, a prison in the Isle of Man, a school in the Shetlands, schools in Strabane and Downpatrick, and a commercial tower block in Belfast which, upon completion, will be the tallest building in Northern Ireland. At present, O'Hare & McGovern has over 500 million euro in advance orders. In Louth, private projects are being carried out at Armagh Road, Dundalk and in Carlingford, as well as an office development in the town centre and Dundalk Swimming Pool. O'Hare & McGovern is a chartered building company and one of Ireland's leading construction companies, with over 30 years' experience of landmark infrastructure projects. Its full service capability in large construction projects is complemented by a portfolio of engineering and specialist construction projects. Eamon O'Hare is pleased to have such a good working relationship with Meath County Council: "We've had a very good relationship with them over the years, since we started on the pool. We have always found them very good partners and very reasonable people to work with. They are an excellent client and hopefully we can continue to work together in the future." Eamon is a huge GAA follower. He played senior football for (and is also a keen sponsor of) his local Ballyholland club in Down, home of current Mourne County players Ronan Murtagh and Paul Murphy. In fact, Murtagh works for O'Hare & McGovern as a subcontracting bricklayer. Eamon O'Hare attended all five of Down's All-Ireland SFC triumphs at Croke Park, including the one that readers of this publication will remember most - the victory over Meath in 1991. O'Hare & McGovern is the construction division of Newry-based Carnbane House Group. Founded as a small contracting firm in 1972, the company is now part of a multi-faceted organisation with interests in general contracting, house building, civil engineering, shopfitting, private development and Public Private Partnership. Expansion has been carefully planned within the company, which, in recent times, has become recognised as one of the major players in Ireland's construction industry with a projected turnover for the 2007 calendar year of £60m. O'Hare & McGovern has for 35 years responded with diligence and excellence to the disciplined planning entailed in construction management and the execution of many major contracts. Above all, O'Hare & McGovern Limited values its record of successfully completed projects, with a growing portfolio of satisfied corporate clients. Corporate clients include 3M Tapes, Aer Rianta, Bank of Ireland, Boots the Chemist, Dunnes Stores, Easons, First Trust Bank, Fujitsu, Goldenvale plc, Great Southern Hotels, Quinnsworth, Radisson Hotels, Roches Stores and Sainsburys. Public clients include Dundalk Urban Council, Fingal County Council, Meath County Council, Isle of Man Government, Newtownabbey Borough Council, Queens University Belfast and University of Ulster, Jordanstown. Tweet

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