Delivering a wide range of industry-leading residential new build and refurbishment projects over the past 55 years and counting, Halpin Construction is a Dundalk, County Louth headquartered family-owned and -managed developer / contracting company that has made an immeasurable contribution to the building landscape of the North East.
It’s a landmark year for Halpin Construction as they celebrate 55 years in business, during which time they have developed a stellar reputation as one of Louth’s premier residential building contractors.
From developing and building their own projects to tackling exclusive one-off homes from a greenfield site to a turnkey finish or transforming existing buildings through largescale, specialist urban regeneration schemes, Halpin Construction invariably delivers unbeatable levels of professionalism, quality and dependability. Halpin’s project portfolio speaks for itself and the second-generation family business – fronted today by managing director Niall Halpin – benefits from a steady volume of work through repeat business and positive word of mouth.
With a busy order book in front of them heading into 2024, it’s fair to say that Halpin Construction are as in-demand and busy as ever they’ve been!
The genesis of Halpin Construction dates back to 1969 when Sean Halpin, who worked as a shoe designer with Clarks in England, built his first house in Dundalk. Niall Halpin joined his father in the family business exactly 25 years ago and is carrying on the same proud tradition for building excellence insisted up by Sean, who is now in his eighties and still offers invaluable advice on a regular basis!
Consistency is key to what Halpin Construction has achieved over the past five-and-a-half decades and the quality of workmanship delivered has always been exceptionally high: “Quality is so important to us and has been since my father started out in 1969,” Niall confirms. “Reputation is everything in construction.
“When we’re wearing our contractor’s hat, we make sure we hit all the targets on behalf of our clients. From a developer’s point of view, it’s all about quality and reputation. We have a very good name around Dundalk and Blackrock and because of that we now have sons and daughters buying from us, whose parents would have bought from my father 30 or 40 years ago. You are only as good as your last job and you have to operate to the highest standards all the time.”
Situated in a scenic setting on Dundalk’s Carrickmacross Road, Lis na Dara is the largest development Halpin Construction have worked on to date, comprising some 370 new build residential units. Lis na Dara is a totally integrated and highly sought-after mixed tenure development including private and social housing, as well as units for sheltered housing / OAP supported living, a crèche and medical centre. Community is at the heart of the development.
“There’s a broad mix of homes at Lis na Dara, including apartments, detached houses, mid-terrace and semi—Ds,” says Niall. “At the moment, there are 30 to 40 units left to complete in that development. That’s taking up the vast majority of our time these days as well as the occasional private house. We acted as developer and builder for the first 350 houses but are doing the back end as main contractor only, working on behalf of Bennett Homes.”
Comprising over one hundred houses, Ard na Mara in Blackrock, County Louth, is another beautiful development in a stunning setting, which was completed in the past by Halpin Construction. Another major project delivered recently was a private regeneration programme on Clanbrassil Street at the heart of Dundalk town.
For this standard-setting and tremendously sustainable scheme, which has breathed new life into landmark premises on Clanbrassil Street, formerly Dearey’s Store, Halpin Construction, driven by the vision of Niall’s brother Ronan Halpin, (Architect and Developer) purchased and completely refurbished and repurposed the existing property. The project involved converting the upstairs area into 24 apartments, while the downstairs area is now leased out to a number of commercial tenants including XXI Ice, Mackin’s Leathergoods, Stand Out Styling, and Creative Spark Downtown Hub, which houses private offices, meeting rooms & Coworking and collaborative spaces
To make this project a reality, Halpin Construction used all their experience and particular building skills to telling effect: “We purchased a large amount of property on Clanbrassil Street and knew we had the expertise to alter the structure of those buildings and meet the programme and get exactly what we wanted to get,” says Niall.
From a carbon footprint perspective, repurposing existing buildings is for obvious reasons preferable to constructing new ones:
“We have the knowledge & vision to complete that kind of work and that project has been a huge success, not least because it brought 50 people back into Dundalk town centre, who are now living & working there and shopping locally and spending their money in Dundalk town centre. At the end of the day, it depends on the type of building you buy. It’s a numbers game and some are easier to renovate than others.
“In my opinion, the government should be doing much more to incentivise contractors to deliver this type of project as you are getting more people into the town centres and that has a major knock-on effect.”
For the building part of their works, Halpin Construction draw upon the expertise of a tried and trusted team of subcontractors, who have proven themselves down through the years and are a vital component of the extended team.
“The men you have working for you are key and we are blessed to have a brilliant network of subbies who have delivered excellent workmanship time and time again,” Niall notes. “Strong communication is important and fostering good relationships. You can’t be on every site at the same time so it’s great to have a crew of men you can trust. No matter what construction project you are working on, the quality of workmanship is what will get you noticed and bring in more work.
“Thankfully we have a good bit of work in front of us. You have to try to keep a year ahead and we are in a good place right now,” the Dundalk contractor concludes. “Building is up and down and you will have good days and bad days. We’ve been through recessions before and the nature of this industry is that there’s always the fear of another downturn – that’s why you try to make hay while the sun is shining.
“When things get quiet, that’s where having a good reputation helps and hopefully you will still be able to secure work on the back of that.”
Halpin Construction have proven themselves over the past 55 years, passing the test of time and establishing themselves as one of the leading contractors in the North East. Their unswerving dedication to consistently delivering industry-leading building excellence is such that there are surely many more landmark anniversaries to come!
Halpin Construction,
8 Jocelyn Mews,
Jocelyn Drive,
Dundalk,
County Louth.
Tel: 042 9386313
Mobile: 087 2729958
Email: [email protected]
This article was published in Building Ireland Magazine, September 2024, Vol 10 No 9
