News
NI Construction trades represented in WorldSkills Team UK
Seven very talented young people from Northern Ireland have fought off stiff competition from across the UK to be selected as members of the UK Team for WorldSkills 2015 with 4 representing construction trades in plumbing, refrigeration, wall & floor tiling and landscaping.
WorldSkills, the skills equivalent of the Olympics, is the largest international vocational skills competition and will be held in Sao Paulo, Brazil from 11 to 16 August this year. Held every two years, the competition sees around 1,000 young people aged 18-25 from around the world come together to compete for medals in more than 45 different skills such as aircraft maintenance, IT network administration, welding, web design and mechanical engineering.
Employment and Learning Minister Dr Stephen Farry welcomed the announcement of Team UK and said: "Northern Ireland’s strong representation on the UK Team clearly demonstrates the high calibre of our young people and the high standards of technical and professional training in our colleges and training organisations. As a small region it is particularly interesting to note that we have the highest representation on the UK Team of all the UK regions. It is very telling that Northern Ireland, which accounts for less than 3% of the UK population, accounts for over 17% of Team UK."
The Minister continued: "These young people are great ambassadors for our country and can demonstrate on the world stage that Northern Ireland has a workforce with the high levels of skills and training required to compete in a global economy.
"To be selected for the UK Team is an outstanding achievement and shows that high quality training can lead to a successful career. I wish each team member the very best of luck as they prepare to take on the best in the world in August. Northern Ireland has a proud history of winning medals at WorldSkills and I am hopeful that this will continue in Brazil."
Barry Neilson, Chief Executive of CITB NI said, “ I would like to extend our congratulations to the Northern Ireland representation in WorldSkills Team UK in particular those representing construction trades. Many of these competitors have come through the Skillbuild NI competition and have won medals showcasing their skills in their trade. They have then gone on to train further at a UK level and now at a world level. They are already winners and we are proud of what they have achieved and look forward to the WorldSkills competition in Sao Paulo later in the summer and wish them the best of luck.”
The UK Team of 41 young people will continue to undertake intensive training ahead of WorldSkills in August. They will compete in 37 skill areas ranging from stonemasonry and carpentry through to cooking and beauty therapy.