Based in Donabate, Co Dublin, Irritec are specialists in irrigation technology. Irish Tractor & Agri caught up with company Managing Director Paul Kunkels to find out more about the family business.
These are fairly busy times at Irritec and Managing Director Paul Kunkels wouldn’t have it any other way.
With its origins dating back to a time when his father Paul Kunkels snr first became immersed in the industry, Irritec was officially set-up in 1990.
Prior to that it was called PEKU, which first began trading in 1966, and since that time the company has grown to become a leader in the design, supply and installation of residential, commercial, horticultural and sports field irrigation.
Irritec is a family run business, with an experienced hard working crew and operate from their own modern twin storey HQ in Donabate, Co Dublin, which stocks a huge range of irrigation materials, available from their trade counter five days a week.
Irritec prides itself on its customer service and tries to accommodate each and every one of their valued customers in whatever way they can.
The vast majority of new clients arrive via referrals, which Paul feels is the best way to connect with new clients and it’s something he’s very proud of.
At Irritec, they strive to offer clients the widest range of irrigation products, which deliver water exactly where required, in the most efficient way. With an eye on the future, the company constantly reviews and updates their products, to ensure that they have the latest, best value and water saving equipment available for you.
Paul’s emphasis on customer service is something which derives from the days he spent learning his trade from his father.
“It’s a family business,” he said. “I would have always worked here during my school holidays and after I finished college I started working with aquaculture, but the site I was working on was closed down by new owners.
“So I came back to Irritec in 1992 and by 1995 I’d changed the company’s direction. We relied completely on golf course irrigation, but there was a lot of competition and we were working for little money. I pushed residential and commercial landscape irrigation and luckily we picked up some work from a newly formed landscape architect firm. Twenty odd years later and we still get a lot of work from them. We get to work in places like Google, Facebook, Dropbox and the IFSC.”
Since then, Irritec has grown under Paul’s direction and their work in the residential market sees them having to stock a large range of products which they can use to irrigate a wide range of applications, such as: Private Gardens, Roof Gardens, Communal Green Spaces, Public parks and office developments.
As we are located close to Rush, Dublin’s main horticultural area, we do a lot of glasshouse and field irrigation work, with all the main growers. We also carry out a lot of repair work here and also sell growers a lot of parts over our busy trade counter.
Despite suffering a bit during the economic downturn, the company has been able to bounce back and since 2014 they’ve been enjoying busy times, as Paul explained.
“We’re very busy right now and really it has been constant for the past three years now,” he stated.
“We’ve had a lot of work with Coillte, the ESB and with Keeling’s Soft Fruit. Keeling’s is at the back of Dublin Airport and we’ve been doing a lot of pipe work for them for the last few winters.
Amenity irrigation is also a growing sector and we have installed sprinklers on a lot of football, rugby and hockey pitches, as well as indoor and outdoor horse arenas.
Irritec are renowned for offering their clients advice on the most suitable and efficient method to irrigate the required areas.
They can advise on the total volume of water required to irrigate on a weekly basis and advise you on the best method to control the system.
The company strives to offer its clients the most water and energy efficient equipment available.
For Paul, customer service has always been paramount and he feels it’s a huge part of the reason for the company’s success to date.
Paul also consults and designs systems for several international clients and has worked on projects in France, Italy and the Middle East.
“My father is 82 years old now and he still comes in here to the office twice a week, so that just goes to show what it means to him.”
Paul Kunkels snr’s background shows that he’s been a working man all of his life and he’s still on hand to offer his son advice whenever he needs it.
Paul jnr explained that his father’s first involvement in irrigation arrived in quite fortuitous circumstances. The rest, as they say, is history.
“My father Paul snr came over here from Holland in the early 1950s and set-up a Philips factory, but he was looking for a change, a new challenge” he said.
“Just by chance he got a call from a Dutch friend, who was building glass houses in Ireland for a Dutch company, and he needed someone to install the irrigation. That’s how it all started.”
Since then time the company has grown from strength to strength and, all in all, Paul says he’s proud to report that the majority of his company’s new clients come via referrals from satisfied customers.
Irritec
Unit 22 Turvey Business Park
Turvey Road
Donabate,
Co Dublin
Tel: 1 840 4033
Tel: 01 840 5318
Mob: 085 277 4230
E-mail: [email protected]
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 5 No 5, July/August 2017
