Jones Engineering, one the country's largest privately owned companies, with more than 2,000 staff, recently dispatched 20 of them to complete a tough, three-day charity cycle. They pedalled from Mizen Head to Malin, 600km in all, raising €60,000 for the Make-a-Wish Foundation. Half the cash was raised by the cyclists, while the company doubled it.

Financial results for Jones, which operates across Ireland, Britain and the Middle East, are due to appear shortly in the Companies Registration Office. They will show revenue grew last year to more than €300 million from €225 million, as it rode the wave of renewed capital investment by multinationals.

The poor Jonesie pedallers, meanwhile, may require a few cushions for their office seats when they get back to work.