LOCAL STORY
MKM Contracts Ltd has earned a reputation for consistently high standards in a high-end sector.
diagnosed with cardiomyopathy [when the walls of the heart chamber become stretched, thickened or stiff, making it harder for the heart to pump blood to rest of the body] at the age of 21 and had a pacemaker fitted,” said Padraig. “Although I did get back to playing and was still turning out for my club into my mid-30’s, I never rediscovered the fitness levels I had before the pacemaker.” It was in 1995, just a couple of months after his father’s passing, that Padraig returned home for good. Having established a reputation for his now accomplished plastering, work was plentiful and he traded mainly in the mid-Ulster area on high-end residential properties. The work kept on coming, word of The collapse of the economy coincided with the conclusion of his football career - everything came to an abrupt end.
Serving his apprenticeship as a plasterer, Padraig was bitten by the travel bug that had lured several family members to America and Australia. Despite a blossoming football career alongside future four-times GAA All-Star Anthony Tohill at Michael Davitt’s GAC in Swatragh, and selection for the Derry Minor, Under-21, and eventually senior panel, Padraig and fellow Oak Leaf county player Gary McGill headed Down Under in 1990. “I remember my first job working at Sydney Harbour Tunnel. I had just finished my apprenticeship and was very green about the gills. I hated it initially, but eventually learned to love the Aussie lifestyle. I was definitely more worldly wise when I returned home a year later, but still naive enough to think that the best approach was to go self-employed and strike out on my own.” Caught between his love of football, desire to be near his family, and those still itchy feet, Padraig spent the next few years travelling back and forth to Australia. Not even the discovery of a serious heart condition stood in his way. “I was
Previously the Port of London Authority HQ, this sublime piece of architecture is now (deep breath)…The Four Seasons Hotel London at 10 Trinity Square.
Using specialist knowledge, MKM Contracts was able to breathe new life into this Grade II listed hotel in the heart of London.
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