CRH ANNOUNCES APPOINTMENT OF CHAIRMAN DESIGNATE

RNS Number : 8998X

CRH PLC

22 February 2012

N E W S R E L E A S E

22 February 2012

CRH ANNOUNCES APPOINTMENT OF CHAIRMAN DESIGNATE

The Board of CRH today, Wednesday, 22nd February 2012, appointed Mr. Nicky Hartery as Chairman Designate, to succeed the present Chairman, Mr. Kieran McGowan. Mr. McGowan, who has been Chairman since May 2007 and a Board member since 1998, will retire after the Company's Annual General Meeting, which is scheduled for 9th May 2012.

Mr. Hartery (60) who joined the Board of CRH in 2004, was Vice President of Manufacturing and Business Operations for Dell Inc.'s Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) operations from 2000 to 2008. Prior to joining Dell he was Executive Vice President at Eastman Kodak and previously held the position of President and Chief Executive Officer at Verbatim Corporation in the United States. He is Chief Executive of Prodigium, a consulting company which provides business advisory services. He is also a non-executive director of Musgrave Group plc, a privately owned international food retailer, and Eircom Limited, a company which provides telecommunications services in Ireland.

Mr. Hartery is a Chartered Engineer, Fellow of the Institute of Engineers of Ireland, an electrical engineering graduate from University College Cork and holds an MBA from University College Galway.