The combined turnover of Ireland’s top construction firms has increased by €720 million on last year according to Construction Magazine’s annual Top 50 CIF Contractors listing for 2018. The annual listing gives a snapshot of the overall growth in Irish construction as it delivers many large-scale projects throughout Ireland and the world, attracting foreign direct investment to Ireland and exporting more than €1.6 billion in construction expertise.

Combined turnover of €6.72 billion over last 12 months

The Top 50 Irish contractors reported a combined turnover of €6.72 billion over the last 12 months, with €5.1 billion of this activity taking place in Ireland and €1.62 billion resulting from exported construction services. Robbie Cousins, Construction Magazine editor said: “This is an impressive result, even more impressive when the lack of balanced regional development and the slow rate of recovery in housing is taken into consideration. The Top50 listing gives a clear indication that construction is a dynamic industry sector looking to the future with vigour and ambition to deliver complex construction programmes at home and overseas.” Tom Parlon, director general, CIF, said: “Irish main and specialist contractors are absolutely critical to the Irish economy’s competitiveness. The largest corporations in the world locate in Ireland for many reasons. But, if our main and specialist contractors were not world class they would never establish a footprint here. Ireland is working because this sector is working. "Without the success of Irish construction, we would not have had the ability to attract tech-savvy and forward-thinking multinationals like LinkedIn, Google, Facebook, Eli Lilly to name but a few, and this is now recognised by the IDA and the wider government apparatus.

Innovating and leading the way in how we implement new and improved technology

"The construction industry is changing, we are innovating and leading the way in how we implement new and improved technology, how we attract and retain workers and how we work together more generally. We have emerged from the depths of the recession leaner, more modern, sustainable, adaptable and resilient. But there are significant improvements, that still need to be made in order to preserve and support our sector’s recovery into the future. "We also need to fix our procurement system here at home and ensure the right supports are in place to help build companies of scale. Finally, we must also work to attract workers back into the industry and make the process of moving home from abroad and gaining work in the sector more streamlined.” Minister of State at the Department of Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform, Patrick O’Donovan said: “The increase in turnover and employment levels across the various sectors is most welcome from government’s perspective. It reflects an economy that has shown an average of 4.4 per cent growth in the years 2013 – 2017 with unemployment figures down from 16 per cent in 2012 to just below six per cent in April of this year. "The increase in export activity demonstrates growing diversity that will stand the sector in good stead in more challenging economic times. Government’s commitment to advancing digital technologies in the delivery of the National Development Plan will further expand the sector’s export potential.”

The Construction Magazine Top 50 CIF Contractors 2018 listing is as follows:

1. John Sisk & Son (Holdings) Limited €950,000,000 2. Mercury Engineering €600,000,000 3. BAM Civil Ltd €470,000,000 4. John Paul Construction Ltd €360,000,000 5. Jones Engineering Group €350,000,000 6. Bennett (Construction) Ltd €325,000,000 7. JJ Rhatigan & Company €245,000,000 8. Dornan Engineering Ltd €218,400,916 9. Roadbridge €213,997,269 10. Winthrop €208,000,000 11. P J Hegarty & Sons U.C. €205,000,000 12. Collen Construction €200,000,000 13. mac-group €185,000,000 14. Kirby Group Engineering €167,620,000 15. Walls Construction Ltd €162,601,921 16. Designer Group Engineering Contractors Ltd €151,000,000 17. Suir Engineering Ltd €122,000,000 18. Ardmac Limited €107,063,334 19. Flynn Management & Contractors Ltd €105,999,557 20. Specialist Technical Engineering Services (STS Group) €98,900,000 21. Stewart Construction €98,000,000 22. Murphy International €84,000,000 23. SIAC Construction Ltd €80,500,000 24. Wills Bros Ltd €70,000,000 25. L & M Keating Ltd €67,000,000 26. Leo Lynch Group €62,540,000 27. Ganson Building & Civil Engineering Contractors Ltd €60,369,983 28. Duggan Brothers (Contractors) Ltd €49,767,200 29. Monami Construction Ltd €45,101,228 30. Purcell Construction Limited €44,000,000 31. Kilcawley Building & Civil Engineering (Sligo) Ltd €42,100,000 32. Gaeltec Utilities Limited €41,773,000 33. MDY Construction Ltd €38,481,326 34. Clancy Project Management Ltd t/a Clancy €38,028,030 35. Glenman Corporation Ltd €37,000,000 36. Radley Engineering Ltd €36,432,204 37. Lynskey Engineering Ltd €36,290,710 38. BMD & Company Limited €34,585,458 39. Glenbeigh Construction Limited €30,053,407 40. David Flynn Ltd €29,400,000 41. Jons Civil Engineering Co Ltd €29,000,000 42. MMD Construction Cork Ltd €28,744,559 43. Mythen Construction Limited €28,465,172 44. Vision Contracting Ltd €27,734,526 45. T&I Fitouts Ltd €27,113,921 46. Buttimer Engineering €25,156,124 47. Townlink €24,482,380 48. Clonmel Enterprises Limited €22,328,927 49. John Cradock Ltd, Civil Engineering Contractors €21,000,000 50. Tritech Engineering €18,000,000 Top 50 Total €6,723,031,152 Foundation Media, publishers of Construction magazine, compiles the Construction Top 50 CIF Contractors List annually.* [embed]https://youtu.be/tDXt0C-kjJo[/embed]