A Truagh fan
December 31, 2007
Felix McKenna, a native of Truagh in County Monaghan, was elected President of the Society of Chartered Surveyors in the summer of 2007. Here, he speaks to the Monaghan GAA Yearbook about his new role - and his hopes for the county's senior footballers in '08.
The Society of Chartered Surveyors (SCS) is the largest body representing the surveying profession in Ireland, and has grown steadily since it emerged from the umbrella of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors to become an independent body in the early 1990s. The SCS currently has 1800 fully-qualified members, with a further 1000 students and probationers, and a Monaghan man sits proudly as the body's president.
Following his election in May 2007, Felix McKenna became the 105th president of the SCS, and the first with a background as a chartered building surveyor, although he initially started his career as a quantity surveyor. Also the managing director of eircom's property development arm, Osprey Property, Felix has been devoting plenty of his focus to SCS matters over the past number of months, and expects a busy schedule to continue into the New Year.
Responsible for overseeing the day-to-day direction of the SCS as well as the promotion of the society both generally and within the property and construction industries, Felix is charged with the task of representing the public face of the society in dealings with members, the media and government departments. He also chairs meetings of various committees, including the Council of Society, the top decision-making body within the SCS.
With the so-called Celtic Tiger having peaked, some analysts have been projecting a low-key economic performance on a wider scale in the coming months and years. But Felix is satisfied that the outlook for the construction industry as a whole - and by extension the wider economy, given the prominent role which property and construction plays - remains positive.
"The underlying level of activity remains very strong," he says. "The construction industry has an output value of ?36bn, which is approximately 10.5 per cent of the Gross National Product. There are 270,000 people employed in the industry, and economic forecasters anticipate continued growth.
"There may be a slight downturn in the residential sector but other areas, such as retail, office and industrial, continue to be very strong. In addition, the public sector, where you have ongoing work on the National Development Plan and Transport 21, is very healthy."
There are reasons behind the slowdown in the previously rampant growth of the residential sector, says Felix, but with the population set to rise again in 2008, he foresees few problems in the short- to medium-term future - merely a return to the healthy and sustainable growth rates experienced in the early years of this decade.
"Recent interest rate increases have had an affect on affordability," he admits, "and that has led people to defer or postpone purchases, rather than decide against it entirely. But population growth remains at around 2.5 per cent per annum, and the demand for residential units will continue. Most commentators suggest that there will be a requirement for between 500,000 and 600,000 houses over the next ten years.
"That equates to a demand of about 50-60,000 a year, which is back to the level of around 2001 or 2002. In 2006, there was a particularly high output which couldn't and hasn't been sustained, but the general economy continues to perform well and the outlook is good."
When he is not preoccupied with the workings of the SCS, Felix McKenna can be found concentrating on the continued success of Osprey Property, a wholly-owned subsidiary of eircom responsible for maximising the value of the property portfolio to the telecommunications giant. Osprey manages 1,300 properties countrywide, ranging from small exchanges and depots to major international exchanges and a significant office portfolio, and led the ?200m sale and leaseback of eircom's nine-story headquarters near Heuston Station in 2006.
In addition to his roles in the SCS and Osprey, Felix is a fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, has been a chairperson of the Irish Property & Facility Management Association in the past and is a qualified barrister, having been called to the Bar in 1989.
It all adds up to a hectic workload, but despite his busy schedule he finds the time to keep a close eye on the fortunes of the Monaghan side in the Ulster and All-Ireland championships. The past year brought continued progress, with Seamus McEnaney's side reaching the Ulster final and the All-Ireland quarter-final, going down narrowly to more illustrious opponents in Tyrone and Kerry respectively. And Felix was immensely proud of the team for their 2007 showing, particularly following the titanic quarter-final struggle at Croke Park in August in which they gave best to the eventual two-in-a-row champions by a single late point.
"I made it to the [All-Ireland qualifier] game against Donegal in Omagh as well as the All-Ireland quarter-final against Kerry in Croke Park," he says. "I think every Monaghan man and woman was very proud of the team after the game that day against Kerry. Most left Croke Park with their heads held high. It was a very creditable display, and it was very nice to see that performance from a Monaghan team."
With the team's confidence buoyed by their performances this year, and traditional Ulster pacesetters Armagh and Tyrone possibly - like the residential sector of the construction industry - experiencing a slight slowdown, Felix is more than hopeful that McEnaney and his men can go one step further in 2008 and deliver some long-awaited silverware to the county.
"I'd be very optimistic about the future," he says. "There is the core of a very good team there. Clearly there is also a very good management structure in place - if they continue to put in big performances in the big games, and begin to believe in themselves, then anything is possible."
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