A Monaghan student, who completed a 10-week joinery skills training programme at IT Sligo, has won a Medallion of Excellence at WorldSkills 2015 in Brazil.
21-year-old Daniel Murphy from Scotstown in County Monaghan was one of a 14-strong Ireland team which claimed several top honours at the prestigious international event in San Paulo.
The Irish team claimed two gold medals and eight Medallions of Excellence to finish 11th overall out of 60 competing countries.
”It was a tremendous experience, and an honour be part of the Ireland team,” said a delighted Daniel after receiving his award.
Daniel was trained at IT Sligo for the World Skills final by Institute lecturer John Joe O Reilly, who is himself a former Ireland Skills joinery winner and has been the Ireland Skills Joinery chief expert since 2009.
”The world skills final was an immense challenge, but Daniel’s commitment and dedication to his training paid off handsomely,” said John Joe. “His work was of a very high standard and, in a world final, the speed of work has to be extreme and of almost perfect quality using a mix of hand tools and machinery.”
Daniel is an apprentice carpenter/ joiner and successfully completed his Phase 4 and 6 tests at Dundalk Institute of Technology.
Speaking after WorldSkills2015, Minister for Education and Skills Jan O’Sullivan T.D. paid tribute to the achievements of the Ireland team. “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,” she said.
“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.”
The WorldSkills competition, which is held every two years, is the world’s largest professional education event. Now into its 43rd year, the event provides a platform for celebrating world-class excellence in skills by showcasing the next generation of skills talent.
Photo caption:
WorldSkills Medallion of Excellence award winner Daniel Murphy with his mentor and IT Sligo lecturer John Joe O’Reilly.