Board Appointment

CRH PLC
19 January 2004


                       N  E  W  S     R  E  L  E  A  S  E

                                                                 19 January 2004


                        CRH ANNOUNCES BOARD APPOINTMENTS


The Board of CRH plc is pleased to announce the co-option to the Board today, 19
January 2004, of Mr. Jan Maarten de Jong and Mr. Terry Neill as non-executive
Directors, and of Mr. Declan Doyle as an executive Director.


Jan Maarten de Jong (58), who is a Dutch national, is currently Chairman of the
Supervisory Board of Heineken N.V. Until January 2002 he was a member of the
Managing Board of ABN Amro Bank N.V. and he continues to be a Special Advisor to
the Board of ABN Amro. He also holds a number of other directorships of European
companies including Cementbouw Handel & Industrie Holdings B.V. - in which CRH
acquired 45% of the equity as part of the Cementbouw transaction which was
completed in October 2003.


Terry Neill (58) was, until August 2001, Senior Partner in Accenture and had
been Chairman of Accenture/Andersen Consulting's global Board. From 1980 to 1986
he was Managing Partner of Andersen Consulting's practice in Ireland. He is
currently Chairman of Meridea Oy, a joint venture based in Finland between Nokia
and Accenture, and of the UK and Group Boards of AMT-Sybex, a software and
professional services company. He is a member of the Governing Body of the
London Business School and of the Advisory Board of Trinity College Dublin
Business School.


Declan Doyle (57) has been Managing Director, Europe Materials, since January
2003. He joined CRH in 1968 and has held a number of senior management positions
within the Group. Prior to his appointment as head of the Europe Materials
division he was Regional Director with responsibility for Poland and Ukraine.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Contact : [phone]

Liam O'Mahony, Chief Executive

Myles Lee, Finance Director


CRH plc, Belgard Castle, Clondalkin, Dublin 22, Ireland TELEPHONE [phone]
                               FAX [phone]

   E-MAIL [e-mail] WEBSITE www.crh.com Registered Office, 42 Fitzwilliam
                           Square, Dublin 2, Ireland


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