Based in Claremorris, Co Mayo, John Kirrane Plant Hire Ltd specialises in Plant Hire, Civil Engineering and Land Reclamation. Building Ireland learned all about the business and some of its current projects from John Kirrane himself recently.
These are busy times for John Kirrane and his team down in Mayo Abbey, Claremorris and the plan is to try and keep things that way right through to 2021.
Last year saw the company immersed in the Western Distribution Road in Sligo, an approximately €20million project which John Kirrane Plant Hire Ltd started in January 2019 with its completion date due this coming summer.
Speaking to Building Ireland, John himself outlined his company’s involvement on the project, as well as the services his business has to offer clients.
“We’ve been very busy the last year, especially with the Western Distribution Road. We’re there since January 2019 and doing the complete project for SIAC Construction, as in from start to finish,” he outlined.
“It’s value to construct is around €20million it’s a two-and-a-half mile stretch of road with two new round abouts, an overbridge on the Dublin to Sligo Railway line and its completion is set for summer 2020.”
Now operating with 40 staff, John Kirrane Plant Hire Ltd has been up and running since 1985 and became an incorporated company in 2002.
In the very same year, the company diversified into Civil Engineering as its core business and today it represents about 80% of the workload with the remainder consisting of utility work, site development, plant hire and land reclamation at John Kirrane Plant Hire Ltd.
Come 2011, Kieran Keane joined the company as a Director and brought with him more than 20 years of experience with one of Ireland’s leading Civil Engineering Companies and also brought an extensive knowledge of pipeline construction and drainage works.
Utilising their combined knowledge and experience, John and Kieran were able to survive the downturn in the construction sector in the early part of the last decade and have even managed to expand the business year on year since 2014.
Today, John Kirrane Plant Hire Ltd specialises in bulk excavation, demolition, rock breaking, bulldozing, storm water drainage, foul water drainage, pumping mains, pumping stations/chambers, water mains, utilities/ducting, sports ground developments and concrete form work.
The company’s client base is extensive, ranging from private individuals, local authorities to major Civil Engineering companies.
“Over the years we’ve managed to build up good and strong relationships with our clients,” John stated.
“While our client base would be relatively small, we’ve a great relationship with them and repeat business has been a huge thing for us from the beginning.”
What led the way for work on Sligo’s Western Distribution Road for the company was its past completed works on numerous civil road projects.
A past major project for John Kirrane Plant Hire Ltd was the N17-N18 Gort to Tuam motorway. They secured contracts with John Sisk and Son on the centre section of the project, which was 19 kilometres long and its role was the full construction of an Interchange off the N63 at Annagh Hill.
This involved the construction of 2.5km of new link roads, four new roundabouts and all associated works.
The company also worked on the Rathmorrissy Interchange, where the N17/N18 meets the existing M6 motorway. This is the largest junction on the 57 km N17/N18 motorway project and they were involved in the construction of mainline drainage and ducting throughout the site.
One of the secrets to success for John Kirrane Plant Hire Ltd is that it uses the most modern, up-to-date equipment available, with fully trained and experienced operators. They are committed to providing the most cost-effective solution to even the most challenging of projects, while maintaining the highest standards of safety.
Right now, the company is working on the realignment of the N60 in Co Roscommon for Wills Bros Ltd.
Having a workforce of a 40 loyal, hardworking staff who take great pride in their work is what makes John Kirrane Plant Hire Ltd capable of taking on such projects.
Some of the staff have been there over 20 years and without them the company would undoubtedly been unable to achieve the successes it has to date.
Green is the company’s brand colour and the Kirrane Plant Hire Ltd name and logo is recognised throughout the country. They take great pride in their equipment and maintain it to the highest standards possible.
John Kirrane Plant Hire is very proud of their track record for completing projects on time and within budget.
They have built their reputation on that and quality workmanship and safety are two of their main selling points. They offer their clients the complete package from small projects to multi-million euro projects.
“We offer a complete package with reliability and quality and have a proven track record as well,” said John.
“We would have one of the most modern fleets in the country at the moment but our big selling point, for me, has always been quality and safety.”
Staying with quality, John has always ensured to keep his fleet up to date with some of the top machinery on offer when it comes to Plant Hire and Civil Engineering.
“Over the last number of years, we’ve added additional mini-diggers, dump trucks, zero tail swing excavators and the average age of all of our excavators here is about a year and a half old,” he said.
“We’ve invested a lot of money in our plant and technology down through the years with every excavator now fitted with GPS 3D control and it’s something that you have to do to keep your clients satisfied.”
Looking towards the months ahead, the Managing Director is very much hoping for more of the same with regards to the current workload he has with projects.
“Our hopes going forward is to just keep up the level of work that we’ve been doing the last few years,” John concluded.
In February, John Kirrane Plant Hire Ltd was nominated as finalists for the 2020 Machinery Movers Industry and Operator Awards in the Best Plant Hire Company category, Best Civil Engineering Company and Best Utility Company.
John Kirrane Plant Hire Ltd.
Mayo Abbey,
Claremorris,
Co. Mayo
Tel/Fax: 094 9360114
Email: [email protected]
This article was published in Building Ireland Magazine, July/August 2020, Vol 6 No 4
