- “I've always had a keen interest in building.”
- “The development was launched at the end of October.”
Dublin man Peter Finn is a recognisable face as he is the most regular Builder currently on television! Peter stars in the TV makeover show Home Rescue and has also appeared on numerous Room to Improve shows.
Mr Finn is known as a positive representative for the Construction Industry in general.
A Carpenter by trade and holds numerous other construction accreditations. Having learned his trade with a small house builder, he moved on to a construction management position in TCD. The call of site and construction adventure encouraged Peter to open his own construction company that delivered many years of successful projects.
Peter then linked up with Mark Flynn to development MDS Construction into one of the premier construction companies in the country. Finn & Flynn is the next step on the road to the top of the construction hierarchy for Peter and Mark.
“My Mam & Dad built a house when we were young and I was attracted to the site, my Father wasn’t a builder but my Grandfather and Uncle where Carpenters and from the early doors I had it in my head that I was going to become a Carpenter,” said Peter Finn.
“I was very lucky to get an apprenticeship under an excellent local small house builder called Hugh Reilly.
“I’ve always had a keen interest in building and I love the challenges that come from building and how every project is different. The building regulations and technology are always changing so it is a very interesting job and you are always kept on your toes!”
As to his involvement with Home Rescue?
“I did the first season of Room to Improve with Dermot Bannon and we basically submitted a price and a day later we were working on site. I was also the first builder to have an argument with Dermot! We stopped doing the show as we became so busy and we had different aspects going on within the business,” enthused Mr Finn.
“Coco Television contacted me about Home Rescue and I said no to taking part in it about five times! I did the first season thinking it was a makeover show but it wasn’t until I saw the reveals that I realised we were genuinely changing peoples lives who either had compromised health, life got on top of them or they weren’t able to sort out their buildings.
Seeing the positivity of it made a big impact on me and I like that and the positivity of it. The show is going from strength to strength and we’re on series four now. It’s getting great ratings and it has become its own brand new.
“Róisín and I get on very well and I actually worked on a job with her years ago.
When you have the time pressures and when you have someone that wants to maximise their designs like Róisín does and I’ve got my principles in that I want to get my job finished and done to a high standard it certainly leads to the perfect storm of designer versus builder clashes but we always get the job done.
I enjoy my relationship with Róisín even if sometimes it can be quite stressful,” added a laughing Peter.
“We’ve got a very exciting project beginning in January. Ringfort is our first property development of 16 houses in Rathmoylon, County Meath. It’s a lovely town and we’ve got a really nice site that we’re giving people a choice of their interior in-terms of open-plan interior or they can stick with the traditional interior. The development was launched at the end of October, it’s very positive and we’re going to site in January.
In terms of the future?
“I’m 100% positive about 2021 for many different reasons but the construction industry was very lucky in that it was the last industry to stop when lockdown was implemented and we were one of the first to reopen in May. I do think 2021 is going to be a very busy year and personally in my own business we have a lot of work on through Architects and Engineers that we would have built relationships with over the years.
“There is also every possibility of series five of Home Rescue, which be an hour long this time,” concluded Peter Finn.
