‘We have to show kids a trade is a really viable alternative to college’ – Chadwicks boss Patrick Atkinson

The Chadwicks depot near Ballymount in West Dublin is a hive of activity as cars, vans and trucks move in and out of the site lugging steel, timber and other key building materials. If you want to take the pulse of Ireland’s construction industry, this is the place to come.

And right now, the sector is operating at full capacity, according to Patrick Atkinson, chief executive of Chadwicks and a veteran of the building materials ...