Celebrating 30 years in business, Michael Maher Contracting & Repairs Ltd has evolved from a small agricultural contracting enterprise to a leading groundwork and civil engineering specialist in the Munster region.
Based in Doon, Co. Limerick, the company was founded as an agri contractor before branching into construction-based work. This has grown to such an extent that it now accounts for about 85% of the company’s activities. Paudie Maher leads a team of 25 highly-skilled people who are employed in the groundwork and civil engineering side of the business, while his father and company founder Michael continues to run the agri contracting business which specialises in baling and slurry spreading. Paudie’s sister Catriona is also involved as an office administrator.
“The company was set up as an agri contracting business in 1991, but my father had operated as a sole trader for seven years before that,” explains Paudie, who is a civil engineer by profession.
“He purchased his first round baler, a CLAAS Rollant 44, in 1989 and the business took off from there. My father always had a digger and would have done some drainage and groundworks for local farmers before we started offering our services to the construction sector. I joined the family business from McInerney Homes in 2009 and have focused on growing this aspect of the business.”
Despite being the smaller of the two nowadays, the Maher’s agri contracting enterprise continues to provide an exceptional service to farmers along the Limerick and Tipperary border. Committed to delivering a top-class service and complete customer satisfaction, Michael Maher Contracting & Repairs Ltd has a wide range of machinery to carry out your work quickly and efficiently, providing you with value-for-money and an alternative to investing in your own expensive equipment. The contractor’s longevity and success can be attributed to the knowledge, skill and experience of its staff as well as the quality of its machinery. The family business delivers the value and quality farmers expect from their agricultural contracting partner every time.
Michael runs seven tractors, the newest of which is a two-year-old Fastrac 4220 which he recently imported from the UK. The other tractors in the fleet are Valtra and John Deere. He also runs McHale Fusion 3 Plus and McHale Fusion 2 round balers, John Deere front and back mowers, a CLAAS rake and three 2,500-gallon Abbey slurry tankers.
“Michael provides a professional, reliable, clean and safe service. No job is too big or too small and he treats every customer the same regardless of their size,” Paudie says.
“He has some great customers who have stuck with him through thick and thin. He makes about 12,000 bales per year which is less than he used to make. Unfortunately, it’s getting harder and harder to compete with unlicensed contractors who are working under the radar. They’re a huge problem in our area.
“At least with the civil works, there’s greater stability and it’s not as volatile.”
All machines are maintained and upgraded on a regular basis to avoid downtime. “With time being money for the customer, we cannot afford to suffer any breakdowns. We keep both our agri and groundwork machinery fresh, and enjoy an excellent relationship with main dealers such as Whelan Plant Sales in Barefield, Breen’s Farm Machinery in Cashel and O’Connor Tractors in Knocknagoshel.”
As a groundwork and civil engineering company, Michael Maher Contracting & Repairs Ltd continues to go from strength to strength. Specialising in bulk digs, muck shifting, deep drainage, all concrete works and ducting, the contractor is engaged in many civil works for Clancy Construction, who have become its biggest client since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“It’s funny how things happen,” Paudie smiles.
“On the day the first lockdown was announced in March 2020, I spoke to someone from Clancy Construction who said they had an urgent job on in UHL (University Hospital Limerick) and needed help with the civil works. It was a rapid build modular unit consisting of 25 bedrooms which was built on an existing car park. As an essential service, we remained fully operational throughout the lockdown, working 24/7 for 16 weeks to get the project done.
“It was a lucky break and we’ve been very busy working on various projects for Clancy Construction ever since. We’ve carried out similar projects for them in Thurles Community Hospital and Nenagh General Hospital, and are currently working on another rapid build project in Croom Orthopaedic Hospital.
“In addition, we’ve done all the muck shifting for Clancy on their new 100-house Gleann Fia development in Tower, Blarney. It’s a mixed development of three and four-bedroom semi-detached and detached family homes. Clancy chose us because of the pride we take in our work, our experience and knowledge, our excellent safety record and our ability to complete projects within tight timeframes and on budget.”
Prior to the pandemic, Michael Maher Contracting & Repairs Ltd provided groundwork services to another large housing development in Castletroy on behalf of Alber Homes. The company has many more valued clients, including Clare County Council, and has an array of machinery to carry out all types of civil works.
“We have 10 or 11 track machines. We have two new Takeuchi diggers and a new Hyundai 220 excavator with a GPS system. We also run five or six dumpers which are a mixture of Terex and Thwaites. We have a new Volvo A25 dump truck and a wide range of attachments. Our oldest machine is a 2007-registered Hitachi digger. We’re constantly upgrading and reinvesting in our plant.”
Michael Maher Contracting & Repairs would like to take this opportunity to thank its customers and suppliers for their continued support as well as its staff for their hard work, dedication and skill.
Here’s to the next 30 years of this successful family-run business!
Michael Maher Contracting & Repairs Ltd
Cooga,
Doon,
Co. Limerick.
Tel: 085 8245174 / 086 8148420
Email: [email protected]
First published in Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 10 No 1, January/February 2022
Michael Maher Contracting & Repairs Ltd
