CRH is among the State's richest companies

Cement Roadstone Holdings is one of Ireland's most successful companies. It is worth about £6 billion. With operations in Ireland, Britain, mainland Europe and in north and south America, the building materials group is also a major international player.

It recently reported a pre-tax profit, before extraordinary items, of €158 million (£124 million) in the six months to June 30th last. Profits had grown by 46 per cent on the same period in 1998, due mostly to organic growth.

The company was formed in 1972 by the merger of two rival construction companies, Irish Cement and Roadstone.

The merger was concluded after Roadstone, the smaller of the two, launched a hostile bid for Cement Ltd. Unlike Cement, Roadstone did not have a stock market listing at the time.

Determined to expand business, CRH decided to reduce its dependence on the troubled Irish economy of the 1970s and 1980s by purchasing subsidiaries abroad. It mostly acquired firms with core businesses similar to its own.

Respected figures in Irish society, some with strong political links, have served on its board.

The long friendship between Mr Des Traynor, CRH chairman from 1987 to 1994, and Mr Charles Haughey has been well documented. While it was Mr Traynor who set up and managed the secretive Ansbacher accounts scheme, CRH has stated that it "never knowingly permitted or facilitated any illegal activities to be conducted by any director or employee from any of its premises".

Other high-profile directors of CRH have included its former chairman, Mr Jim Culleton, who spent much of his career at the company. In 1991 Mr Culleton was appointed by the Government to develop an industrial strategy for the State for the 1990s.

A former attorney general and EU commissioner, Mr Peter Sutherland, was also a director.

In 1993 Mr Culleton replaced Mr Sutherland as chairman of Allied Irish Banks when Mr Sutherland was appointed director-general of GATT.