As the managing director of Newtowngore Eng-ineering, chairman of QBRC and a member of Leitrim County Council, John McCartin is an extremely busy man. We were understandably grateful when he interrupted his hectic schedule to give us an insight into his various activities, all of which are decidedly community-focused.
You would be hard-pressed to find a more genuine community activist than John McCartin. Most of his work takes place behind the scenes, but his input into promoting the welfare of County Leitrim and its environs is almost immeasurable.
He’s the driving force behind Newtowngore Engineering, a long-running family operation which designs, fabricates, supplies and erects high-quality farm and industrial buildings nationwide (as well as into the UK), providing gainful employment to a crew of 40. The genesis of the business dates back to 1969 when John’s father Tommy and uncle Joe started out as McCartin Brothers, building a lot of piggeries as well as running their own mill.
Down through the decades, Newtowngore Engineering has developed a reputation for producing top-quality industrial and agricultural structures as well as providing a wide range of steel products and services. They specialise in general industrial construction including building fabrication/steel framed buildings; agricultural buildings including slatted sheds complete with fittings; large one-off fabrications; all aspects of steel fabrication and welding services; and the supply and installation of all types of roofing systems.
Readers of this magazine will be only too well aware of the exceptional agricultural buildings delivered by Newtowngore Engineering in counties Leitrim, Cavan, Sligo, Longford and beyond (agri buildings account for about 50% of overall business). They can also supply gates, barriers, crushes, doors and penning for all their farm buildings and specialise in covering in yards and awkward spaces as well as re-roofing and repairing existing buildings.
In addition to being at the very cutting edge of the market, Newtowngore Engineering is also an extremely innovative company. For example, they pioneered the fully-automated wet-feed system, which is now in widespread use on pig farms all around the country.
“Traditionally we would have worked predominantly with farmers in the North West and we would be the biggest suppliers of farm buildings in the region,” John notes. “We do the steelwork on hundreds of agricultural buildings every year and we have worked on projects everywhere, from here to Cork and from Kildare to the Aran Islands. Thankfully, we have a good reputation and most of our business would be repeat business and lads coming back to us for another building.
“Newtowngore Engineering was set up in its current guise in 1986. Prior to that, my father and uncle were into milling and pig production and clothes production (shirts and pyjamas). They had a pig, dairy and beef farm, too, and did all their own steelwork
Meanwhile, some of the high-profile industrial projects completed by Newtowngore Engineering include Sligo Racecourse, An Post sorting units, various schools, the Government buildings in Carrick-on-Shannon, Ballymote Fire Station in Sligo, a stand for Sean O’Heslins GAA club in Ballinamore and Poolboy Industrial Estate in Galway.
“There are two facets to the business now,” John confirms “– farm buildings and industrial / commercial buildings. Both are equally important. We started off with the farm buildings obviously but when there was a bit of a lull we started to work on distribution centres for An Post, schools, hospitals, sports clubs etc. and we were soon providing a nationwide service, which quickly increased in popularity.”
Of course, the recession put a lot of things on ice but Newtowngore Engineering has come through the worst of the downturn unscathed and is in a strong position going forward. “Things were quiet and margins were down during the recession but we decided not to close the doors and to keep working away. Slowly but surely, things are picking up again. The volume of work is growing again, even though the margins aren’t. At least the increase in volume helps with fixed costs…
“We have a decent order book for the coming months and have a couple of major industrial projects on the books that will keep us in line for the foreseeable future. St James Hospital, DIT Grangegorman, Athlone Commuinity College and NUIG are all nice hallmark projects to get and they have moved us into a whole new sphere.”
Outside of the family business, John is active serving the community at a number of other vital levels. He has followed his father Tommy – a former TD, Senator and MEP – into politics and is a sitting Fine Gael councillor on Leitrim Co Co. He is also the incoming Mayor of Leitrim – a prestigious honour by any standards – so he’s going to become even busier in the not-too-distant future!
His work as chairman of QBRC Ltd. – the company that bought the construction materials divisions of The Quinn Group’s former manufacturing business in a deal worth approximately €100 million last November – has also been invaluable to the local community. This will help keep local employment in the area – something which is obviously close to John McCartin’s heart.
Newtowngore Engineering,
Newtowngore,
County. Leitrim.
Tel: 049 4333232
Fax: 049 4333262
Mobile: 087 2517432
E: info@newtowngoreengineering.
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 3 No 6, July 2015
