NYSE Trading Commences

CRH PLC
31 March 2006

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                                                                  March 31, 2006



               CRH BEGINS TRADING ON THE NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE





CRH plc, the international building materials group, announces that its American
Depositary Shares (ADSs), representing the Company's Ordinary Shares, began
trading today on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbol 'CRH
'.



To mark  the event, Chief Executive Liam O'Mahony will ring The Opening BellSM
Tuesday, April 4th 2006 at 09:30 (EST).



CRH plc is headquartered in Ireland and has operations in 25 countries
worldwide, employing more than 66,500 people at over 2,600 locations.  Its
operations focus on three closely related core businesses: primary materials,
value-added building products and building materials distribution.  In 2005, CRH
generated operating profit of €1,392 million on sales of €14,449 million and
reported profit before tax of €1,279 million.


                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange