Two Cavan apprentices win at World Skills

TWO of the students from Cavan who competed in this year’s World Skills competition won their categories.

James Hunt from Virginia won for electrical installation; while Matthew Byers from Ballyjamesduff took home the top prize in metal fabrication.

Both Cavan men had to prove their skills against others in a live final.

WorldSkills Ireland is the country’s leading event dedicated to the promotion of skills, apprenticeship careers and workplace opportunities for young people.

Virginia apprentice, James Hunt, who won the electrical installation category explained how he was entered into the competition. The ATU Sligo student works with JF Electrical.

Each year lecturers in his college choose five students to compete with the best in the country. “I won the competition in college and got sent forward,” James told the Celt.

For the main event, James had to complete a domestic installation project over three days including wiring light switches, sockets and a fuse box and installing conduit and trunking. He also had to instal a PLC. All this was done “live” with a footfall of 29,500 visitors passing through the RDS as competitors like James undertook industry challenges.

Secondary students from over 300 schools across Ireland came to this year’s event in the RDS to discover real alternatives to university and explore other career paths.

James took it all in his stride and said it was a “great experience”.

When asked what a win at World Skills means for an apprentice like him, James said: “In the short term it means I should be going forward to represent Ireland in the international competition in Shanghai next year.

“It looks good on my CV and I suppose, in a certain aspect, it’s an employers’ dream,” he continued.

“I’ve made lots of connections already with people just calling to congratulate me.

“My phone is hopping since I won,” James said.

Matthew Byers from Ballyjamesduff who won the metal fabrication category is studying at MTU Cork and is employed with Frank Dowd.

For his challenge, Matthew had to make a fire engine with moving parts and to exact height specs.

He says winning his category will "open lots of new doors for him". Matthew, who is in the final phase of his apprenticeship, says the award will also help him when he starts his own business in a few years time. And he gave a committment to the Celt to return to Cavan to establish his metal fabrication enterprise at home.

Two other students from Cavan also competed at World Skills this year and performd well. They were Sean O’Reilly from Kingscourt who is studying at TU Dublin and employed with McKenna Precision Engineering and who competed in industrial mechanics.

Tadas Kasparavicius from Ballyjamesduff competed in the cabinet making category.

He is currently employed with McCaul Kitchens and is studying at ATU Connemara.