CEMENT INVESMENT IN IRELAND

CRH PLC
21 December 2006

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                                                                21 December 2006





                CRH ANNOUNCES MAJOR CEMENT INVESTMENT IN IRELAND





CRH plc, the international building materials group, announces that its Irish
subsidiary, Irish Cement Limited, is commencing a €200m investment project to
modernise its Platin Cement Works near Drogheda in Ireland .



The new plant - CRH's largest ever single investment in Ireland - comprises a
new kiln line and milling facility and will replace the older of the two
existing kilns.  It will increase the cement capacity of Platin Works from
approximately 2 million tonnes to 2.8 million tonnes and will ensure that
adequate supplies of cement are available in Ireland for the future.



Platin Works has been in operation since 1972 and has been both the primary
source of cement in Ireland for the past 30 years and a major employer in the
Drogheda area.  The new plant is expected to be commissioned in late 2008 and
will secure continuing employment in the cement industry in Drogheda , where CRH
began producing cement in 1938.



The investment will create an ultra-modern, energy efficient plant, meeting
world best practice emissions standards. It will also facilitate the production
of environmentally friendly cements with lower carbon intensity.



Commenting on these developments, Liam O'Mahony, CRH Chief Executive, said 'This
major project is a clear sign of CRH's commitment to meeting the long-term needs
of an expanding Irish economy and construction sector, through ongoing
investment in state-of-the-art production facilities across the wide range of
its activities'.







Contact CRH at Dublin 404 1000 ([phone])

Liam O'Mahony, Chief Executive

Myles Lee, Finance Director

Eimear O'Flynn, Head of Investor Relations

Maeve Carton, Group Controller








       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


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