Board Appointments

CRH PLC
28 November 2001

November 28, 2001

CRH ANNOUNCES BOARD APPOINTMENTS




CRH plc announces the appointment to the Board with effect from January 1,
2002 of two new Executive Directors, Mr. Tom Hill, Chief Executive Oldcastle
Materials, and Mr. John Wittstock, Chief Executive Oldcastle Products &
Distribution.


Aged 45, Tom Hill joined CRH in 1980. He is a citizen of the United States and
a graduate of Duke University and Trinity College Dublin. Since his
appointment as President of Oldcastle Materials in 1991, Tom has led the
substantial growth of CRH's U.S. aggregates, asphalt and readymixed concrete
operations. Oldcastle Materials operates in three regions of the United
States, the Northeast, the Midwest and the West and is now the leading U.S.
producer of asphalt for road paving and amongst the Top 4 aggregate producers
nationwide. Tom became Chief Executive of Oldcastle Materials on January 1,
2000 following the reorganisation of Oldcastle, the holding company for CRH's
North American operations, into two major operational divisions - Materials
and Products & Distribution.


Aged 52, John Wittstock is a citizen of the United States and a graduate of
University of Wisconsin and Northwestern University. John worked in the
brewing and food industries prior to joining HGP Industries, a leading U.S.
independent custom glass temperer, in 1988 as Chief Financial Officer.
President of HGP since shortly before it joined Oldcastle in 1990, he
successfully grew the Glass Group to North American leadership during the past
decade. John became Chief Executive Oldcastle Products & Distribution on
January 1, 2000 as part of the reorganisation of Oldcastle. The Products &
Distribution division operates mainly in the United States with a growing
presence in Canada and South America and comprises four product groups -
Precast, Architectural Products, Glass and Distribution - each with leading
local and national positions.


These appointments will bring the total CRH Board membership to its full
complement of fifteen, comprising nine Non-Executive and six Executive
Directors.





Contact CRH at Dublin 404 1000 ([phone])

Liam O'Mahony, Chief Executive

Harry Sheridan, Finance Director

Myles Lee, General Manager Finance




CRH plc, Belgard Castle, Clondalkin, Dublin 22, Ireland TELEPHONE
+353.1.4041000 FAX [phone]

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