Exclusivity Agreement

CRH PLC
19 June 2006

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                                                                    19 June 2006







 CRH ENTERS EXCLUSIVITY AGREEMENT WHICH MAY LEAD TO THE ACQUISITION OF ASHLAND
                         PAVING AND CONSTRUCTION, INC.





CRH plc, the international building materials group, announces that one of its
US subsidiaries, Oldcastle Materials, Inc., has entered into an exclusivity
agreement with Ashland Inc. which may lead to the acquisition of Ashland Paving
And Construction, Inc. (APAC) by CRH. Completion of any transaction that might
emerge from this process would be subject to US regulatory review and approval
by the Boards of Directors of CRH and Ashland .



APAC, headquartered in Atlanta , GA , is a leading US aggregates, asphalt and
construction company with extensive operations in 14 southern and mid-continent
states producing 32 million tons of aggregates and 32 million tons of asphalt
annually.  In the 12 months ending March 2006, APAC sales amounted to $2.8
billion with profit before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA)
of approximately $ 200 million.



CRH's US Materials division, headquartered in Washington, DC, is the number one
US asphalt producer; the fourth largest US aggregates producer and a top 10
readymixed concrete player. The division operates in 32 US states, primarily in
the Northeast, Midwest and West and in the year ending December 2005 reported
sales of $3.9 billion and EBITDA of $ 613 million.




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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