Team finishes 11th out of 60 countries
Minister for Education and Skills, Jan O'Sullivan TD and Minister for Skills, Research and Innovation, Damien English TD, today congratulated the 14- strong Team Ireland on their fantastic success at the WorldSkills competition, held in São Paulo last week.
Last night it was announced that two Irish team members won gold medals, and eight other competitors were awarded Medallions of Excellence. Overall, Ireland finished 11th out of 60 countries.
Alína Síle, from Bunratty in Co Clare, won a gold medal in Restaurant Service, and Ros Wynne from Sixmilebridge in Co Clare, won a gold medal in Aircraft Maintenance.
The Medallions of Excellence were won by:
Andrew Bushe, Enfield Co. Meath - Automobile Technology
Andrea Donoghue, Forth Mountain, Co Wexford - Beauty Therapy
Shane Magee, Ballineboro, Co. Cavan - Electrical Installation
Daniel Murphy, Scotstown, Co. Monaghan - Joinery
Dean McSweeney, Schull, Co. Cork - Metal Fabrication
John Murray, Dunmanway, Co Cork - Plastering & Dry Wall
Cian Mulligan, Rathcoole, Co. Dublin - Cabinet Making
Jonathan Flynn, Ballina, Co. Mayo - Plumbing
Speaking after the announcement of the results, Minister O'Sullivan said: "It is obviously a particular source of pride for those of us in the Mid-West to see Alína and Ross bring two gold medals home to County Clare. But the success of Team Ireland across the board has shown that young people from Cork to Cavan, and from Meath to Mayo can rise to the top of their fields when we put the right opportunities in place. The recent announcement that the range of apprenticeships in Ireland will be almost doubled, with most of those new apprenticeships coming on stream in 2016, will provide these types of opportunities to many more young people all across Ireland.”
Commenting on the success, Minister English said: “It was my pleasure to see our WorldSkills team off to Brazil, and I am so proud of Team Ireland’s brilliant results. These talented young people represent the fantastic skills and talent that our apprentices and trainees have to offer. I congratulate them all, and would like to thank their trainers and mentors for their important roles in these excellent results. With an increased offering of apprenticeships, I have no doubt that future teams will build on this year’s success, and I look forward to seeing Ireland increase our national ranking when following in the footsteps of this brilliant team.”
The IrelandSkills Council is the coordinating body for Ireland at the WorldSkills Competition. It runs 26 national competitions each year and the Irish Worldskills Team is selected from these. IrelandSkills invite education and training organisations to participate in Ireland Worldskills Council and the Council coordinates the Irish Worldskills Team.
ENDS