Minister for Training, Skills, Innovation, Research and Development John Halligan T.D. offered his congratulations to the Irish WorldSkills team upon their arrival home to Dublin Airport on Thursday evening. The team, which was made up of 17 young apprentices, trainees and students, represented Ireland at the 45th WorldSkills Competition in Kazan, Russia. They took home 4 gold medals, 1 bronze medal, a Best of Nation medal and 7 Medallions for Excellence. As a relatively small team they outdid themselves, achieving an amazing 10th place in the world overall.
The results were announced officially on Tuesday evening at the end of four days of competition in Kazan. Minister Halligan was in Kazan to lend his support to the team. He said:
In itself it is such an incredible achievement to have competed at Worldskills but to be able to also bring home medals, really highlights this team’s individual dedication and commitment to their crafts. It also bodes well for their future, and no doubt successful careers but also Ireland’s future
Team Ireland members competed against the clock over the course of the four-day event, under the watchful eyes of their peers, their fellow competitors from over 60 countries and the public. The competitors took part in diverse range of skills competitions from the craft areas such as Plumbing & Heating and Construction Metal Work as well as newer areas such as Cloud Computing and Building Information Modelling.
The Irish team of competitors come from Donegal, Waterford, Cavan, Kerry, Wexford, Offaly, Kildare, Galway, Longford, Dublin, Limerick, Roscommon, Kilkenny and Cork. The team trained in TU Dublin, institutes of technology (CIT, LIT, WIT, DKIT, IT Carlow & AIT) and education and training board colleges (Kerry ETB, Waterford Wexford ETB, Limerick Clare ETB, Donegal ETB, Dublin Dún Laoghaire ETB) and Shannon College of Hotel Management. Having the support from their employers and training providers really enabled and encouraged these competitors to showcase their talents on such a huge international stage.
Notes for Editors
WorldSkills is the global hub for skills excellence and development. Through international cooperation and development between industry, government, organisations, and institutions, it promotes the benefits of and need for skilled professionals through grass-roots community projects, skill competitions, and knowledge exchange. The WorldSkills Competition, which is held every two years, is the world’s largest professional education event. Ireland’s official member of WorldSkills is the Department of Education and Skills, which became the seventh member in 1956. WorldSkills has now over 80 members. Ireland has participated in all of the 37 WorldSkills Competitions held since 1957.
Details of Winners
Gold went to Olivier Bal-Petre in the category of Cloud Computing. Olivier also won a ‘Best of Nation’ medal for the highest scoring competitor from Team Ireland.
Gold went to Megan Yeates from Kildare in Freight Forwarding.
Gold went to Ryan Dempsey from Dublin in Building Information Modelling (BIM).
Gold went to Luke O’Keefe from Kilkenny in Building Information Modelling (BIM).
Bronze went to Adam Flynn from Waterford in Industrial Millright Mechanic (IMM).
The Medallions for Excellence were awarded to Christopher Kehoe (Wexford) for Welding, Cormac Thompson (Roscommon) for Aircraft Maintenance, Hanna Mathe (Waterford) for Cookery, Jack O’Donnell (Galway) for Plumbing & Heating, Patrick Twomey (Cork) for Construction Metal Work, Ruairí Grealish (Galway City) for Restaurant Service and Jack Lynch (Cavan) for Cabinetmaking.
Further information on WorldSkills and Ireland Skills Live is available at www.worldskills.org and www.irelandskillslive.ie