CIF conference aims high

Many compelling ideas were aired at this year’s Construction Industry Federation Annual Conference at Croke Park, from potential solutions for the housing crisis to calls for gender equality in the construction industry

From left: Shane MacSweeney, partner, head of government and infrastructure, EY; Ian Kehoe, journalist, author and broadcaster; Mark Fagan, business director Ireland and Northern Ireland, Topcon Ireland; Dominic Doheny, president, the Construction Industry Federation; Neel Bhandari, operations director, Bechtle Ireland; Ray Craig, project director, Mace Group;Tom Parlon, director general, CIF, Philip Lee, Partner, Philip Lee

Since 2013, the lowest point of the recession, the construction industry in Ireland has created more than 50,000 jobs, and CSO figures suggest that by 2019, one in nine people in the Irish economy will be employed in construction.

Innovations like Building Information Modelling (BIM) and lean construction are already in practice, while 3D-printed construction and smart building stand to revolutionise construction in years to come.

Yet, for all its growth, the Irish ...