Liam O'Mahoney's report on the last six months trading for CRH was, as financial analysts say, "in line with expectations" - the profit fall had been well flagged.

Interestingly, the major fall in revenue was in the US, while the fall in Irish cement sales of 14 per cent seems a fair barometer of the downturn here. For CRH, a drop in profits to €606m will hardly dent its capacity to grow internationally, given it had six month revenues of €9.7bn - sufficient cash flow to borrow against for more acquisitions. As a model for steady growth, CRH has been one of the country's flagship firms, never sailing too close to the wind by over-borrowing. When asked to project his expertise onto the current doom-and-gloom, O'Mahoney had a few ocean analogies to offer - the country was "facing strong headwinds, but if we keep our heads, we'll come through". De Blok wishes him plain sailing as he hands over the tiller of CRH later this year.