The fortunes of the Monaghan football team have been transformed over the past two years - and the next couple will see the transformation of the centre of Monaghan town, with ongoing work on a ?30 million project led by the Clarke Group. The firm's Surfacing Director, Paddy Clarke, spoke to the Monaghan GAA Yearbook. The Clarke Group headquarters are based in Lisnaskea, County Fermanagh, but the company has long links with Monaghan having engaged in work with Monaghan County Council for the past two decades. And with the company having landed the contract for a major mixed retail and residential project at the heart of Monaghan town, those links will only be strengthened in the coming months and years. Work on the mixed use development, which will cost in the region of ?30 million, commenced in 2007. The project will transform the centre of Monaghan town, with the development to bring significant new retail space to the town as well as civic offices, apartments, townhouses and an underground car park. A two-year timeframe has been pencilled in for completion. Paddy Clarke, the Director of the Clarke Group's Surfacing Division, says: "The mixed use development in Monaghan town is undoubtedly the biggest project we've entered into with Monaghan County Council. It's a groundbreaking pilot project on a national scale. "The Clarke Group has had a long-standing association with Monaghan County Council. In the company's Surfacing Division, we have been directly involved with the council for a long time, particularly around the Clones area, and we're in constant contact with John McKiernan, the Area Engineer." Clarke Group's Surfacing Division has over 40 years of background in the supply and installation of asphalt products and is regarded as a market leader in the field, with projects undertaken ranging in size from private domestic driveways to major road schemes. Paddy is also responsible for the firm's Health & Safety protocols while his brother, Tommy, is Director of the Contracts division and their cousin David is the company secretary. Seamus McKenna heads up the firm as Managing Director and Deirdre Somerville fills the role of Financial Director. Clarke Group Ltd was established more than 70 years ago and, having originated as a quarry company supplying to local markets, it has become one of Ireland's major business success stories. Not content with dominating one corner of the market, the company has diversified successfully on several occasions and is now split into six clearly defined divisions: Communications, Contracts, Homes, Products, Stone and Surfacing. The firm's Communications Division, established in 1999, has become one of the leading contractors servicing blue-chip communication companies, delivering high-end copper and fibre telecommunications networks throughout Ireland for a wide range of customers ranging from high-profile companies to Government-led broadband initiatives. The Group also recently expanded into the area of 'Multimedia Home Networking'. With telecommunications growing in popularity, digital television becoming standard and the internet now being a common commodity within the home, this networking system will become a necessity for self-builders and developers alike. Clarke Contracts is at the forefront of the Irish construction industry through its work in civil engineering, domestic and industrial building projects, while it also undertakes work on water meter installations, distribution mains, reservoirs and water treatment plants. The company's Timberframe Homes Division was launched in 2003. Manufacturing timberframe home kits, roof trusses and internal pre-hung door units, the Clarke Group's Homes Division is now recognised as a major supplier throughout Ireland, supplying a high-quality, professionally-designed and competitively priced timber frame kit. The Homes Division has recently expanded into the Scottish market and looks forward to a very bright future. In addition to generations of business success, the Clarke family is also closely associated with Gaelic games in County Fermanagh. A member of the Donagh St Patrick's club and a committed supporter of the county team, Paddy can empathise with the emotions of Monaghan supporters in 2007, having experienced at close quarters Fermanagh's heady championship journey to the latter stages of the All-Ireland championship three years previously. He says: "We had a great time of it in 2004, getting all the way to the semi-final before losing out to Mayo after a replay, so I can imagine how the Monaghan people felt this year after going so close to beating Kerry. It was brilliant for us to get all the way to a semi-final and hopefully we can go one step further in the coming years." To that end, he offers an upbeat assessment of the county team under Malachy O'Rourke, offering the view that the new manager, who took charge towards the end of 2007 after the end of Charlie Mulgrew's four-year spell in charge, possesses all the attributes to lead Fermanagh back to the promised land in UIster and further field. O'Rourke comes into the job on the back of exceptional success in club management in three different counties, leading Derry side Loup to the Ulster club crown in 2003 before guiding Tyrone's Errigal Ciaran and Cavan Gaels to their respective county championships in subsequent years. And Paddy Clarke reckons that time will show that the Fermanagh County Board have made a shrewd appointment in bringing the Derrylin man on board. "We've a new manager in Malachy and I'd be very confident that we can do well under him," he says. "He has had good success over the last few years at club level in a number of counties, he knows the club scene in Fermanagh inside-out. Everyone will be feeling confident going into the new year." Looking back at the final season under Mulgrew, Paddy feels that fortune didn't shine on the Erne men. "I thought we were very unlucky last year," he adds, "We were in a strong division in the League, with a lot of tough games. Things didn't go our way, especially in the Dublin game, but that was probably as bad as we've been and in the last few games we gave a good account of ourselves. "In the championship we pushed Tyrone close in Ulster and did the same to a Meath team which went on the reach the All-Ireland semi-finals. So it wasn't as bad a year as it might have looked on paper and there's plenty for Malachy and the lads to build on next year." He is also careful to pay tribute to the achievements of Mulgrew, who was the man at the helm of the team for those two All-Ireland semi-final outings against Mayo in 2004. "Charlie was very good," he says. "He brought something new to the table. There was fresh blood brought in, and he had a real enthusiasm for it. Things just didn't go our way in his last year, but he had a real big impact on Fermanagh football." For 2008, Fermanagh and Monaghan will go head-to-head in their first championship outing, an Ulster quarter-final in May. Paddy may have a strong association with Monaghan through the success of the Clarke Group, but there are no prizes for guessing which side he will be on when the championship cobwebs are shaken off in Enniskillen on May 25th. Tweet

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