Since its establishment in 2002, Lagan Cement in Kinnegad has firmly stood by its environmental awareness campaign and still continues to do so. Maroon and White spoke to the company's Technical and Environmental Manager Tom McManus and found out about their GAA links.

Coming towards its 10th year in business, Lagan Cement's commitment to the environment has remained solid and received esteemed recognition in 2007 when they picked up an award at Chambers Ireland's President's Awards for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
The company's facility in Killaskillen near Kinnegad achieved major recognition acknowledgement when it won the Environment SME award at Chambers Ireland's President's Awards for Corporate Social Responsibility at a ceremony in Dublin's Burlington Hotel. Lagan Cement was presented with the 'Eco-Business Award' for "minimising the environmental footprint of its business activities and for the effective implementation of best practice in Environment CSR".
Since then the 'Lagan team' is proud to have also achieved a further two National Ibec Annual Awards for Environmental Excellence.
Lagan Cement have continued to maintain environmental sustainable development as the primary focus of the business.
"Sustainable development and Environmental excellence actually work hand-in-glove for our business. Reducing our carbon intensity by decreasing our imported fossil fuel usage and replacing it with greener energy from renewable local processed fuels, derived from the waste sectors, is a key part of both our sustainable development and our Environmental achievements to date.
"In addition Lagan's latest CEM II Cement Products which are up to 33% lower in their carbon intensity, have significantly replaced the historical CEM I portland cement type in the Irish Market. We're very conscious also of our role as neighbours and we know that by supporting the local GAA clubs, we are also supporting the wider community and that's why we try and support the GAA clubs here," stated the company's Technical Manager, Tom McManus.
Tom, who made minor and senior appearances for his native Cavan and won a county intermediate championship title with his home club Templeport in 1995, has been working with Lagan Cement in Kinnegad for ten years now and continues to enjoy the challenges of working for a very progressive company.
"We're based here in Killiskillen, Killegan, Co Westmeath and we're in operation since 2002," he explained.
"There's around 85 full-time staff here and my position is Technical Manager which includes Environmental, Quality and Process Control responsibilities.
"Basically, what we do here is manufacture cement. Jude Lagan who lives locally is the Managing Director of Lagan Cement and the parent Lagan Group of predominantly construction-based companies is headquartered in Belfast. Lagan brick and Lagan tile are examples of the Lagan portfolio of well established construction products that continue to 'lead the field' in the Irish marketplace.
"Business at the moment is obviously challenging. The difficulties facing the construction sector in this country are well documented at this stage. However like many business we are working hard on our cost base and developing our export opportunities."
Lagan Cement has operated its cement manufacturing plant at Killaskillen since August 2002. The plant, which operates its own limestone and shale quarries adjacent to the plant, has production capacity of up to 700,000 tonnes of high-grade cement annually which is dispatched to both domestic and export markets.
The company engages in local community-based projects and was also the proud sponsor of the Westmeath senior football championship up until two years ago. In recent years it awarded Tyrrellspass' youngster Darren Quinn with a scholarship for his college studies in Environmental Science and Technology at IT Sligo.
Darren, who is a past-pupil of St. Joseph's, Rochfortbridge and was a member of the Tyrrellspass team that reached the Leinster club football final in 2007, was selected from a list of candidates in recognition of his academic and personal achievements.
The environmental scholarship was initiated to assist a local student in his/her pursuit of a third level qualification within the environmental field and to recognise the important role of environmental management within the sustainable development of industries such as Lagan Cement.
Tom stated: "The process of continuous environmental improvement is a driven philosophy in our business. Lagan takes its environmental duty of care very seriously, and we have implemented a number of initiatives in this regard, particularly in respect of reducing our CO2 emissions."
On the scholarship itself, he added: "The environment and environmental science are topics today that are of great interest to all, both in our short and long-term outlooks. We have been closely involved with the local education system, since we began operations in 2002, by facilitating plant visits and presentations for primary and secondary level students of local schools and colleges."
"We were delighted to award the scholarship to Darren. We believed the scholarship to be an excellent way to acknowledge the fundamental importance of the role environmental sciences play in a business such as ours, while offering welcome assistance to Darren in his studies."
Quinn recently made his breakthrough on to the Westmeath senior football team under manager Pat Flanagan.
In January, he lined-out between the posts for all of the Lake men's O'Byrne Cup games and is set to continue in the number one jersey in the National Football League as they bid to make an immediate return to Division Two. The Tyrrellspass shot-stopper will be hoping to impress Flanagan having been given the chance to stake a claim for the position off All Star winner Gary Connaughton.
However, Lagan Cement's GAA roots don't stop with Darren Quinn. Down through the last decade they've provided sponsorship for local clubs and have members of staff which would have a rich background in Gaelic games.
"We would support Kinnegad, Ballinabrackey and the Downs regularly enough and as I mentioned earlier we sponsored the Westmeath championships up until a few years ago, which was a huge honours for us," said Tom.
"We have a few lads here that play for Ballinabrackey and Rhode, Kinnegad and other local clubs as well. I would have finished playing 15 years ago with Templeport in Cavan. Back then we were in Division One and I was lucky enough to win an intermediate championship in 1995, playing at midfield."
Since its inception, Lagan Cement has been sensitive to the views and opinions of the local community, and seeks to maintain positive and open relations with its neighbours.
This is further enhanced by the organising of open day events and educational site tours for local schools and other parties such as associations and interest groups.
The company has also recently developed a Biodiversity Programme for the site which incorporates a nature walk through a section of the plant grounds and details the variety of wildlife found in their natural habitats.
"We asked an ecologist over a year ago to assess our entire site for its Biodiversity attributes, since large parts of our circa 600 acre site have reverted to their natural habitats as a result of not being farmed for the past ten years or so. The extent of wildlife living in the area really surprised me and my colleagues and gave us the idea to develop a proper walkway with display signs which would be both interesting and educational for our school tours.''
The company utilises its website and also publishes regular newsletters to keep the local and wider communities up-to-date on various plant activities, planning applications, general developments etc. Lagan Cement is committed to making sure the community around its Kinnegad plant is afforded easy access to information and site visits to assist in addressing any concerns which may arise.
Lagan Cement Kinnegad would like to wish all involved with Westmeath GAA the best of luck for the 2011 season. Tweet

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