The Construction Industry Federation (CIF) has chosen Andrew Brownlee as its new director general. He will succeed Hubert Fitzpatrick in the role, and will take up the post later this year.
Mr Brownlee is currently the chief executive of Solas, the Further Education and Training (FET) Authority. His selection follows a recruitment process in recent weeks.
He was first appointed to the role as chief executive of Solas in August 2019 for a five-year term having previously served as an executive director since 2018. In August last year, Solas announced that he would serve a second term out to September 2029.
Before joining Solas, he had worked for the Higher Education Authority as head of system funding. He has a masters in economics and accounting from the University of Edinburgh.
Mr Fitzpatrick had been appointed as director general of the CIF in June 2023, taking over from Tom Parlon who retired from the organisation at that point. He had previously filled a number of senior roles with the organisation.
The CIF is the Irish construction industry’s representative body with offices in Dublin, Cork and Galway. It represents a €32 billion industry that employs about 170,000 people.
It made the headlines earlier this month when it emerged it was the owner of a terrace of cottages where the roof of one of the five properties collapsed, propelling the front wall out into the path and road opposite the Grand Canal.
The houses, located in Dublin 6, were later demolished.
The Irish Times reported that the CIF failed to pay more than €140,000 in derelict site levies owed on the terrace of Victorian cottages, despite being in line for €23 million through the sale of the surrounding site.
The row of houses, dating from the late 19th century, had been on Dublin City Council’s Derelict Sites Register since June, 2023.
