A new Construction Industry Federation (CIF) President has been elected.

Michael Stone will serve as the head of the CIF and leader of the CIF's Executive Body for the next two years.

Mr Stone is the founder and CEO of Designer Group, which operates extensively throughout Ireland and the UK. Some of the key projects he has been involved in include the new Diageo brewery in St. James' Gate, the redevelopment of Clery's Department Store, the Olympic International Broadcast Centre for the 2012 Games in London, the redevelopment of the iconic Adelphi Building in London as well as works on the Mater Hospital, UCD, Trinity College and the General Post Office.

Mr Stone said: "I've been a member of the CIF for the past 16 years and I am acutely aware of the honour it is to be selected and to serve as President of this organisation - one of the most important representative bodies in the country. I am also very conscious that the role brings with it a huge amount of responsibility and challenges.

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"Looking forward to the next two years as President, the top five items that I want to address are: The perception of our industry; The dramatic fall off in apprenticeships; The lack of finance in the marketplace for house builders; The Government Contracts and the Construction Contracts Act; Higher standards for our industry.

"I believe our industry is still fighting a perception problem. There are still some people who see the CIF as the body that represents developers - some of whom delivered poor quality buildings and housing. We need to be seen as the body that represents the construction sector. The body whose members build pharmaceutical plants, schools, hospitals, company headquarters, roads, bridges, tunnels and water treatment plants as well as houses and apartments. The clients of our members are as diverse as public sector bodies, FDI companies, property and land owners and regular home owners all over the country.

"We need to be seen to be representing the construction element of development companies. We need to continue working with Government and provide them with solutions to some of the problems that our people and economy are facing."