SUCCESS FOR LOCAL STUDENT AT SKILLBUILD 2010

Newry and Kilkeel apprentices who study at Southern Regional College's Greenbank and Kilkeel campuses, received top awards at the annual Skillbuild NI National Competition held at South West College, Enniskillen last week.

Winning students were:
Painting and Decorating - 1st - Ronan Connell - Greenbank Campus
Painting and Decorating - 2nd - Robert Graham - Greenbank Campus
Painting and Decorating - 3rd - Ryan O' Gorman - Greenbank Campus
Industrial Heating - 1st - Philip Murnion - Greenbank Campus
Joinery - 1st - Alexander Gordon - Kilkeel Campus
Joinery - 2nd - Matthew Mallon - Greenbank Campus
Wall and Floor Tiling - 2nd - Neil Loughran - Greenbank Campus
Electrical - 3rd - Damien Mc Comiskey - Greenbank Campus
Lead Sheet Work - 3rd David Hanna - Greenbank Campus
Plumbing Pipework - 3rd - Richard Shilliday - Greenbank Campus

Providing a unique stage to showcase excellence and talent, Skillbuild NI is hosted annually each spring and over 100 of the top apprentices compete to win coveted titles in 13 different construction craft areas ranging from plumbing to brickwork and for the first time electrical installation. The winners may then go on to represent Northern Ireland in the UK and World Skillbuild finals.

The competition saw the students challenged with creating test pieces, designed to challenge the ability of apprentices to follow detailed instructions, produce accurate and neat work outputs, be economical with materials while working to strict timescales - all essential requirements for today's construction industry.

Alongside these winners a number of other SRC students from all across the College competed in various other sections, with the College managing to secure a grand total of 12 medals.

Assistant Director of SRC, Mrs Frances Caherty commented: "The standard in all categories was extremely high and all competitors produced work of an exceptionally high standard. A sincere thank you is due to also to SRC staff who put so much time into preparing all the young people for the competition."
Commending the apprentices on their hard work and dedication shown in their field of expertise, Permanent Secretary for the Department for Employment and Learning, Alan Shannon, said: "Skillbuild is now firmly established in the Northern Ireland skills competitions calendar. It provides an excellent opportunity for the competitors to benchmark themselves against each other and gives the winners the opportunity to compete for medal success at a national and hopefully eventually global level."

The Painters and decorators from Greenbank campus who took all of the top awards at the Skillbuild NI competition