A promise to get the job done in time for a visit by the Queen was enough to secure a granite worktops firm the contract to build an ornamental fountain for the Irish Presidential Palace.

Granite Worktops Direct, based in Gilesgate, Durham, relied on the craftsmanship, skill and speed of its Portuguese factory to ensure it could fulfil the £100,000 deal.

The 18-tonne structure, which consists of two granite bowls, the largest of which will be ten metres in diameter, must be in place by December 22, ahead of the Queen's visit in January.

Sales manager Mike Wardle said: "It is a huge honour. It is a very prestigious job with it being for the President of Ireland.

"What got us the job was that it had to be speeded up due to the visit of the Queen. That put much more urgency on the job.

"It is a real feather in our cap. It is going to be seen firsthand in the gardens of the palace and the Queen is going to be one of the first to clap eyes on it.

"Our state-of-the-art factory enables us to produce intricate work to exacting standards within a strict budget and timescale."

One of the stipulations of the job was that the granite had to be from Irish quarries.

Huge rough-hewn lumps of rock were shipped from Ireland to Portugal where they were cut to more manageable pieces.

They are being crafted into respective pieces of the fountain outside Porto in northern Portugal where they will be assembled and checked before they are shipped back to Ireland and put in place at the palace.

Granite Worktops Direct, which picked up the Dublin job at a trade fair in Verona, Italy, was established in Durham two years ago as an offshoot of the much larger Janotas Stone. The company has capitalised on a growing vogue for granite kitchen tops. Both demand from members of the public and increasing number of contracts from trades such as architects and pub refurbishers.

Mr Wardle said: "The same combination of technology and expertise helped us to win the deal to build four monolithic war memorials in Hartlepool last year.

"When our Queen sees the Irish Presidential fountain on her Dublin visit, maybe she'll order a granite fountain for Buckingham Palace gardens - or perhaps even new granite worktops for the royal kitchens!"