It’s a landmark year for Atlantic Plant Hire & Contract Crushing as the County Clare headquartered industry leader celebrates 20 years of delivering projects to complete customer satisfaction. To mark this milestone anniversary, Building Ireland returned to Kilkee and touched base once more with founder / proprietor Gearoid O’Callaghan.
Twenty years in, Atlantic Plant Hire & Contract Crushing Ltd. continues to progress and move with the times, showcasing that winning combination of magnificent machinery and professional workmanship, always delivered with a keen personal touch.
Proven industry leaders when it comes to digger hire, drilling and blasting, and rock hammering, Atlantic Plant Hire & Contract Crushing has brought its expertise to bear on a variety of major construction and infrastructural / civil projects nationwide for a score of years and counting.
Only recently they were nominated in three categories at the Machinery Movers Industry Awards 2024 – Contract Crusher Company 2024; Plant Hire Company 2024; and Plant Machinery Manager 2024 for which Bernard O’Callaghan was nominated.
Clare man Gearoid O’Callaghan established the company in Dough, Kilkee in 2005 and the hands-on founder consistently provides a professional, best-in-class, client-focused and project-specific service, with a fantastic, ever-growing fleet of fresh and immaculately-maintained machines at the heart of this standard-setting operation.
Since inception, Gearoid – who started out from humble beginnings with one 35-tonne Hitachi excavator – has focused on ensuring that Atlantic Plant Hire & Contract Crushing always has the right equipment and manpower to execute every job in the most efficient means possible. He eats, sleeps and breathes the business, making himself available to clients throughout the course of every project – and before and after! – ensuring complete customer satisfaction through constant communication and collaboration.
The business continues to evolve and improve. After 20 years of growth and project excellence, Gearoid is very much looking forward rather than back: “We’re always moving forward, buying new equipment and looking at new projects. When you think about it, of course it’s a great achievement to reach our 20th anniversary, especially when you think back to when you were setting out.
“When you are in your 20s and starting up a new venture, you don’t really know where it is going to take you, but you are obviously hoping that there will be some sort of longevity in it. Thankfully that’s how it has panned out.”
A proud achievement, indeed. Has the success of the business perhaps exceeded all expectations? Has it been even better than Gearoid might have dared expect? “Well, I certainly didn’t think I’d still be working as hard as I am 20 years down the line!” he quips. “But that’s the way it is – to succeed in this line of work, you have to be prepared to work hard. To get it off the ground, it was all go day and night for the first ten years.
“Whatever the company needs, you have to give it. Then you have to keep working just as hard to make sure you maintain those levels and standards. But we love it and that’s why we do it.”
The secret of Atlantic Plant Hire & Contract Crushing’s success? “Determination,” comes the swift response. “‘No’ is not an option and failure is not an option. We will find a solution to get every job done. If Plan A doesn’t work, we will move on to Plan B. If Plan B isn’t working, we’ll look at Plan C, and so on.”
Over the years, Atlantic Plant Hire & Contract Crushing has completed regular work for wind farms as well as taking on large civil works / road projects for a who’s who of civil engineering contractors. These include the N22 Ballyvourney-Macroom Road Scheme in County Cork, the N4 Collooney to Castlebaldwin road project in County Sligo, the M17 M18 Gort to Tuam Scheme in County Galway and the N55 bypass of Killydoon village in County Cavan.
Full-time work is generated directly for a team of 30 and Gearoid notes that the excellent crew he has assembled are instrumental in the success of Atlantic Plant Hire & Contract Crushing, whose steady clients include privately-owned quarries, local authorities, numerous main contractors from Sisk to Jons Civils and Niaron to Ward & Burke, and utilities such as the ESB.
All told, there are up to 100 items in the fleet, including 22 excavators ranging from 3 tonne up to 75 tonne, ten crushers, ten screeners, eight 16-tonne dump trucks, loading shovels, dozers, rock breakers (from one tonne to ten tonne), lorries, low loaders, etc. Services provided include rock breaking, land reclamation, site works, bulk earth moving, soil stabilisation and a complete drilling and blasting service.
A stunning new flagship Scania 770S V8 6X4 double drive lorry was added to the fleet in 2023 and 2024 saw Gearoid purchase a new Caterpillar 374 excavator. “We like to try to upgrade where and when we can,” he adds. “When they start to get tired, then you have to replace them. At the same time, you are always adding to the fleet, too. If you want to get on, then you have to grow the fleet to suit the market.
Other recent developments at Atlantic Plant Hire & Contract Crushing include the acquisition of a new D55 drill rig for drilling and blasting, the addition of former Roadbridge director Morgan Sheehy to the team as operations director, and a small expansion into the UK market.
“We’re always seeking ways to bring more value to our customers and to minimise our impact on the environment,” Gearoid concludes. “One recent development that fits in with this is that we have branched into soil stabilisation, where we use soil onsite and treat it with cement or limestone rather than exporting it. This reduces the volume of material being moved in and out of site, which reduces the carbon footprint of the project.”
As Atlantic Plant Hire & Contract Crushing celebrate their 20th anniversary, one can’t help but feel that they are only getting started!
Atlantic Plant Hire & Contract Crushing Ltd.,
Dough,
Kilkee,
County Clare.
Tel: 087 2424111
Email: [email protected]
This article was published in Building Ireland Magazine, February, Vol 11 No 2
Atlantic Plant Hire & Contract Crushing, featured
