The Irish Times

Modernist to his core, architect Shay Cleary aims to make serene buildings that stand the test of time. Shay Cleary says he's always trying to make things that aren't "fashionable" and don't date. "I believe a certain kind of stillness is important... You're making a statement, but not in a loud way." It's all about what the great Mexican architect, Luis Barragan, called expressing serenity. For the Bantry-born architect, believe it or not, "the greatest compliment is when somebody takes a building for granted . . . because it just seems so completely natural and inevitable"; the "secret world of architecture" - all the angst and effort that goes into making a building - essentially becomes invisible.