Blessed are the builders! Time we gave tradespeople due recognition

EVERY year, tourists flock to visit Rome’s Colosseum, London’s Big Ben, Paris’ Eiffel Tower, and New York’s Empire State Building to admire these iconic constructions.

People are fascinated by places like Egypt’s pyramids, Greece’s Acropolis, Ireland’s Newgrange and, closer to home, our very own Shandon Bells.

Humans love an impressive structure, but it is only recently that I have developed a genuine appreciation of the construction workers who translate the imaginations of architects and engineers into actual buildings.

For the past few months, our house was a small building site. We are now the proud owners of a modest kitchen extension and have a whole team of incredibly hard-working and talented carpenters, plumbers, electricians and plasterers to thank.

After watching the transformation of an old, damp and leaky extension into a new, insulated, watertight version in just a few months, I really believe that society does not give builders the credit they deserve.

People are quick to share stories of cowboy builders, shoddy workmanship or elusive electricians. Builders are stereotyped as breakfast roll eaters and poor timekeepers, but do we acknowledge the important work of construction workers who toil hard in all weathers to create the built environment, and whose work survives for decades, centuries or, if they are lucky, millennia?

Construction workers are creators. They take raw materials like wood, concrete, steel and glass and turn them into structures that define our cities and landscapes. 

Beam by beam, brick by brick, builders turn drawings, sketches and plans into something real and 3D that you can live in.

We managed to stay in our home for most of the duration of the build so were able to watch each development, and I was struck by how unbelievably satisfying it must be to be a builder, knowing that each day’s hard work accrued to something tangible that would serve our family for a long time to come.

As a documentary-maker, I work with the intangibles of words, pictures, and music stories. My job involves talking, typing and organising. Finding stories, hiring crew, securing locations, and planning shoots requires just me and an internet connection.

During the few months our builders were toiling on our new home, I was busy making a documentary that was filming around the world.

In the space of four weeks, a well organised procession of strong- armed and talented men barrelled away part of our old house and created, in its place, a new, spacious weatherproofed room. How satisfying!

In the same four weeks, I had arranged a big overseas shoot only for it to be cancelled last minute because a key interviewee got Covid. The shoot was postponed, and I had to go back to the drawing board. How unsatisfying!

In comparison to our builders, I had extraordinarily little to show for four weeks’ work. Watching these builders’ steady progress made me think ‘What am I doing with my life’?!

These decisive and practical builders work hard and have something to show for it at the end of the day.

‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ is a question that children get asked regularly and often they answer with the more visible jobs in society - teacher, doctor, firefighter and, of course, the most noble profession of all - football player.

Teachers and other public servants do vital work, but a sector that doesn’t get the kudos it deserves are construction workers.

Carpenters, plasterers, electricians, and plumbers are the people who build the world we live in. Without these workers we have no schools, no hospitals, no fire stations, and no homes to retreat to at the end of the day, yet their contributions to society are under-appreciated.

Architects receive the accolades, yet rarely do we consider the sweat and toil of the workers who turn their visions into reality.

From the moment a concept for a new building takes shape in the mind of an architect, to the final nail being hammered into place, construction workers are at the heart of the project.

They interpret the intricate designs and engineering plans, mould and sculpt the space, and withstand the challenges that weather presents (our poor builders worked throughout the wettest March in recorded weather history).

After closely observing the construction process in our house, my son now wants to be a builder when he grows up, and I think we should be more encouraging towards these professions.

Figures for 2019 show that there are 205,400 people in Ireland employed in the built environment sector, we have a skills shortage and need to keep training and recruiting the next generation.

Anyone who has tried to hire a tradesperson for a job in recent times knows that there are not enough skilled people to meet demand. Sufficient numbers of key tradespeople will be critical to help us transition to a renewably powered future. It’s plumbers and electricians who will help save the planet!

The perception of the industry as being physically demanding is considered a deterrent for attracting new entrants into the sector, and it’s certainly not a job for the faint-hearted.

However, at a time when people are worried that AI is going to make many jobs obsolete, a career in construction seems a safe bet. It will be a long time before an AI-powered robotic carpenter will be able to replace the wisdom of someone with decades of experience of working with wood.