Business

Omagh director completes Whitehall project after terror attack

Croke Park 'before' and 'after' pictures
Croke Park 'before' and 'after' pictures Croke Park 'before' and 'after' pictures

THE Northern Ireland man who helped guard the Vatican against opportunistic graffiti artists has just completed a professional clean-up of Whitehall in London after work was interrupted by last month's terror attack.

Omagh man Paul Bradley, UK director of French-based cleaning product specialists Guard Industry, said the cleaning team worked for 16 hours overnight to complete the work after the site was re-opened following the tragedy.

Five people died as a result of the March 22 incident, when attacker Khalid Masood sped across Westminster bridge in a 4x4 and later stabbed PC Keith Palmer to death.

Whitehall is one of the most famous streets in the UK and hundreds of thousands of visitors walk its footpaths each year, necessitating high quality cleaning and protection work, according to Mr Bradley.

"The work was completed on April 6 and, overall, thousands of litres of product were used for this massive project," he said.

"Guard Industry and myself were privileged to be involved.

"A lot of planning and hard work had been put into getting phase one completed and I'm delighted with the results. Thanks to Guard Industry and ProtectGuard HD, the pavements of Whitehall will stay clean for years to come.

"Being an area of national importance, there is a need for eco-friendly products, as well as products that will be non-corrosive and sympathetic to historical monuments."

The London project – stage two of which begins in May – follows work carried out by the company at Croke Park last year.

"This was a very special project because of our connection to Irish football, being proud sponsors of Greencastle GFC," Mr Bradley added.

"At the end of the project, Croke Park, which welcomes 82,000 visitors each year, has become the first stadium in the world to be self-cleaning.

"It is a well-deserved restoration for what is the third largest sports stadium in Europe."

Other iconic landmarks restored to former glory with Guard Industry products include the Vatican in Rome and Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China – as well as the surface of Custom House Square in Belfast.