Sean Ahern Ltd has been in the electrical contracting business since 1956. The family-run business is recognised as one of the leading providers of electrical services in the Munster area.
As it prepares to celebrate 60 years in business, Sean Ahern Ltd continues to go from strength to strength under the guidance of brothers Michael and Thomas Ahern, who are managing director and director respectively. The company, which previously traded as Sean Ahern Electrical, was set up by the brothers’ father Sean during the rural electrification of Ireland. Now aged 88, Sean remains whole and hearty, and continues to take a keen interest in the family business.
Over the past six decades, Sean Ahern Ltd has been involved in all types of industrial and commercial developments throughout the Munster region, growing to a size of over 80 staff and a turnover in excess of €7 million. Seven years ago, the company relocated from Corn Market Street in Cork city to a purpose-built premises in Southlink Park, Ballycurreen, which is close to Cork Airport. The premises comprises office, warehouse and storage space.
Sean Ahern Ltd’s business activities include the following: medium voltage electrical installations; general LV electrical installations; road and motorway lighting; fire alarm and gas detection installations; security and CCTV installations; ICT and structured cabling installations; instrumentation and controls installations.
The company has a loyal and dedicated team of electricians and apprentices who are professional, efficient and courteous. They have a great understanding of their customers’ needs and are committed to maintaining the highest standards of workmanship. As a fully registered member of the ECA and CIF, all of the firm’s work is certified, carried out by a qualified electrician, while it is also fully insured.
The ECA (Electrical Contractors’ Association) represents the interests of contractors who design, install, inspect, test and maintain electrical and electronic equipment and services. The CIF (Construction Industry Federation) is the representative body for construction companies and contractors working across all sectors in Ireland.
Sean Ahern Ltd undertakes a significant amount of maintenance and repeat work for clients, and has completed numerous multi-million euro projects in the recent past. It has many clients in the pharmaceutical, medical, health, educational, industrial, commercial and public sectors. Among these are Pfizers, Novartis, Abbvie, GE Healthcare, MSD Brinn & Ballydine (all pharmaceutical companies); De Puy, Johnson & Johnston and Stryker Corporation (medical devices), Cork University Hospital (CUH), South Infirmary, Mercy Hospital and Bon Secours Hospital; Office of Public Works; FAS; various Government departments (Health, Education, Justice etc.); UCC; Cork City Council and other local authorities; ESB.
“We enjoy an excellent working relationship with our clients,” Michael Ahern says.
“We carry out a lot of work for pharmaceutical companies in Cork and beyond, and also have staff based permanently in some of the local hospitals. Additionally, we specialise in public lighting and were responsible for the lighting on the Kinsale Road flyover in Cork. We are currently working in the West Pharma plant in Limerick.
“We’ve worked for Bord Gais in the past and have also carried out contracts in Cork and Limerick prisons.”
Sean Ahern Ltd has its own internal design capabilities, using AutoCAD and OptiWin lighting design software. These are used for the production of contract drawings, “as built” documentation and minor design and build contracts.
The company’s estimating procedures are also automated, using its own in-house developed systems. All activities are carried out under its internal quality assurance system. The safety management system has been developed by external safety consultants and is monitored by the same external consultants.
After the difficult years of the recession, Sean Ahern Ltd looks to be coming out on the right side of it.
“It was tough for everyone in business, especially for companies like us who are so closely linked to construction. At the height of the boom, we had 150 staff, but we had to scale back when the economic downturn came. Thankfully, the worst of it seems to be over and we have noticed a pick-up in business in the past year, particularly in the pharmaceutical and industrial sectors.”
Sean Ahern Ltd has always been a hotbed for GAA talent, and used to field inter-firms football and hurling teams. Current Cork GAA stars Eoin Cadogan and Paudie O’Sullivan, as well as Donal Og Cusack, Conor Cusack and Mick O’Donovan, have worked for the well-known electrician contracting firm in the past.
Here’s to the next 60 years of Sean Ahern Ltd!
Sean Ahern Ltd
16 Southlink Park,
Ballycurreen,
Cork.
Telephone:
021 4273227
Fax: 021 4318845
Email:
[email protected]
Taken from Building Ireland magazine Vol 1 No 2, Winter 2015
