From small renovations through to building bespoke homes as well as maintenance contracts, Galway-based McGough & Walsh Ltd are renowned for delivering a quality finish. Director Noel Walsh outlined the services the CIF registered company provide to their long list of satisfied clients.
Noel and his business partner James McGough established the company in 2005 and they have accumulated an impressive portfolio of successfully completed projects in the past 15 years.
“I’m a carpenter by trade and James is a plasterer and I suppose we started working together back in the late 90s, around ‘98/’99,” Noel outlined. “We were self-employed first in our own trades and then joined up building and did a couple of one-off houses.
“We established the building company then in 2005 and started off with a couple of one-off sellers, private houses. We then moved south and started working with the HSE. We do a good bit of maintenance work with the HSE around the county at their various health centres. We’d be on call for them really – if they have problems, they ring us to go here or there to fix a leak or sort out a roof, basically tidy up some bits and pieces.”
The Brothers of Charity Galway also avail of McGough & Walsh Ltd’s services on a regular basis.
“We’re doing a refurbishment for them at the moment in Kilcolgan, renovating one of their houses there. We’re also working in their centre in Kilcornan, in the village of Clarinbridge, renovating toilets.”
The Meelick headquartered company are also busy on the domestic front.
“We recently finished a private house, an old two-storey that we built on to. We gutted it out, renovated and built a big extension on to it. The clients just moved in at Christmas and we’re currently on a new build in Tuam. The floors are in and we’re ready for the ESB to turn on the power. That’s the stage it is at.
“Outside of that we also do a lot of grant work, disabled grants, for people who are accessing grants from Galway County Council. We are on their list for grant work so the individuals would contact us and we’d go and look at their needs, either bathrooms or extensions or whatever is required.
“We also do work for housing organisations while another project we are finishing up at the moment is for Tuam Celtic FC, we’re finishing up dressing rooms for them. We built on a big extension to the existing dressing rooms.”
He added: “We’re busy out. We had a great year and were very busy for a small company.”
A two-man operation, McGough & Walsh call on trusted sub-contractors to help them achieve their primary objective of satisfying their clients’ needs.
“We work the subbie route – electricians, plumbers, block layers. We have subbies who have been with us from the start. The same block layer comes to us and he has his gang of men. The same with the plumbers and the electricians.”
When asked to detail the key attributes that he and his fellow director James pride themselves on, Noel answered: “Definitely quality and getting projects completed on time. We’re efficient and try to be as cheap as we possibly can be for the client.
“We’re lucky in that we generate a lot of our work through word of mouth. We’re rural in north Galway and work tends to come to us which is, obviously, great from our point of view. The likes of the HSE and Brothers of Charity would regularly send us out work for tendering and they keep us busy. We’ve been very lucky that way, even during the recession we always had plenty of work. You need a bit of luck too, as they say, and we’ve been very lucky.”
McGough & Walsh hasn’t been immune to the challenges presented by Covid-19 but they have been able to cope better than most due to the essential nature of the services they provide.
“Covid has been difficult, particularly during the first lockdown. This time it’s different because we’re doing a bit of work with the HSE and Brothers of Charity. They’re essential so we have letters from them stating that and we can travel. It’s not as bad this time as the last time.
“Talking to a lot of tradesmen, they all seem to have a lot of work ahead of them and we’re good for five to six months at least with contract work and we have other projects on the books there for pricing. So, looking ahead to the future, we be optimistic about keeping things going as they are,” he concluded.
Never compromising on quality, feel free to contact McGough & Walsh to find out how they can help you realise your building dreams.
McGough & Walsh Ltd
Meelick
Lavally
Tuam
Co Galway
Phone: 087 2434221
Email: [email protected]
This article was published in Building Ireland Magazine, June, Vol 7 No 6
