22 May 2008

CRH appoints Chief Executive Designate and Chief Operating Officer Designate

CRH plc, the international building materials group, announces the appointment of Mr. Myles Lee as Group Chief Executive Designate. Mr. Lee will succeed the current Chief Executive, Mr. Liam O'Mahony, when he retires as previously announced at the end of 2008. Mr. Lee, a civil engineer and accountant, is aged 55 and joined CRH in 1982. He was appointed General Manager Finance in 1988 and became Finance Director in November 2003, at which time he joined the CRH Board.

CRH also announces the appointment of Mr. Albert Manifold as Group Chief Operating Officer Designate (COO). He will take up this role and join the CRH Board in January 2009. Mr. Manifold, an accountant and an MBA, is aged 45 and joined CRH in 1998. He has held a variety of senior positions including Group Development Director and, since July 2007, Managing Director Europe Materials.

The new position of COO, reporting to the Group Chief Executive, reflects a natural evolution of the organisational structure in CRH, given the continuing growth and development of the Group in the US, Western Europe and the emerging markets of Central/Eastern Europe and Asia.