Trade awards for North Clare men

TWO North Clare men will represent Ireland in what has been dubbed the Olympics for tradespeople.
Shane Stringer from Doolin and Gerard O’Loughlin from Inagh have both been selected to compete at the 2010 World Skills Competition in London.

The 53rd annual National Skills Competition took place recently and ended with a lavish awards ceremony at Dublin’s Mansion House.
Run by the Dublin Institute of Technology, the competition tested every aspect of the skill and workmanship of the apprentices over an intense period of two and a half days.
Gerard O’Loughlin, a student at Galway Mayo Institute of Technology, Letterfrack was named the top apprentice in cabinet-making, while Shane Stringer, who works with his father Albert, emerged victorious in the plumbing category.
“The numbers of apprentices in Ireland is down 86% since the boom,” said David Macken, managing director of Snickers Workwear (Ireland) Limited.
“Most of the firms in the competition, which are still supporting apprentices, are SMEs such as auto technicians, auto body painters and repairers, builders, carpenters and furniture makers, electricians, painter and decorators, plumbers and sheet metal workers.
“They are the backbone of our economy and should be supported by the government and applauded by their community,” he continued.