ICF held the Federation’s Annual General Meeting on November 5^th which was preceded by a management seminar and was attended by a large number of ICF members.

The outlook for the economy and the construction sector and the challenges of quarry planning were the two key themes at our seminar. ICF was delighted to welcome Annette Hughes Director, EY Economic Advisory who opened the seminar on a positive note, presenting a detailed analysis of the landscape, challenges and future outlook for the Irish construction sector.

The seminar also heard from Paul Sheridan Director of Main Contracting with the Construction Industry Federation who presented on the opportunities and challenges facing his member companies, particularly in civil engineering.

The theme for the second session of the seminar featured a presentation by Mark Galvin, General Manager Ardfert Quarry Products and current ICF Council member who made a presentation on ‘Essential Aggregates – An Evidence Based Assessment to Inform Ireland’s Planning Policy’, the recent ICF publication which highlights the need for national, regional and local planning policy for aggregates in order to safeguard Ireland’s future supply of essential construction raw materials necessary for our country’s future development.

ICF was also delighted to welcome Niall Cussen, Chief Executive with the Office of the Planning Regulator (OPR) who presented on the OPR Case Study Paper published in 2025 titled ‘Quarrying and Sand and Gravel Extraction and the Local Authority Development Plan’.

All the presentations from the seminar are available to ICF members in the members area of the ICF website by clicking here  https://irishconcrete.ie/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Guest-Presentations-Construction.pdf