ACEI President Brian Kavanagh hands over the reigns

Apr 18, 2023

After an enjoyable and fulfilling year, GARLAND Director Brian Kavanagh has completed his term as ACEI President and reflects on the year that was…

The 2022 / 2023 year has seen the Irish built environment sector face a range of macro challenges including the war against the Ukraine which has severely impacted the lives of millions of their citizens. This has had a wider knock-on effect across western Europe which has included the hyper-inflation of energy costs, which have fed into an already overheated construction economy in Ireland, which along with rising interest rates have affected the viability of many projects. Such difficulties are especially apparent in the residential sector which the Government admits is a national crisis.

 

In his capacity as President, Brian attended an outreach event on Modern Methods of Construction, which was hosted by five separate Government departments. It was evident that some joined-up thinking would be required to address the current challenges.

The recent failure of the “pillar” banks of Silicon Valley and Credit Suisse have led to shockwaves travelling around the boardrooms of the world. This is all too familiar with the crash of 2008. Combined with the lingering effects of Brexit and COVID-19, we continue to live in interesting times.

A further noteworthy initiative in 2022 was the consultation and negotiations with the Office of Government Procurement (OGP) on Professional Indemnity Insurance (PII) including the proposed, welcome introduction of liability caps to public sector contracts. Other challenges remain, including legislative issues, and ACEI continues to advocate on behalf of its member firms in this regard.

The ACEI had its own shock event early in 2023, when Secretary General, Sarah Ingle, delivered the “bombshell”, that she was leaving Ireland to travel with her husband, to the west coast of the USA. Sarah’s enthusiasm, drive and attention to detail, will be sadly missed but we wish her all the best for the next chapter of her life.

Brian officially handed over the Presidency for the 2023 / 2024 term to James Kavanagh of Varming Consulting Engineers at the ACEI Annual Awards Dinner that was held on Friday 31^st March 2023.

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