Medal Success For NI At WorldSkills

Northern Ireland has triumphed at the global skills competition WorldSkills London 2011, winning gold, silver and bronze medals as part of Team UK.

A gold medal in bricklaying was awarded to Philip Green, student at Belfast Metropolitan College and self-employed at DG Green and Sons, Lisburn.

A silver medal in landscape gardening was awarded to James Cuffey, Downpatrick. A Bronze medal in refrigeration and air-conditioning was awarded to South Regional College student, Stuart Millar from Loughgall.

More than 150,000 spectators from across the world watched 1,000 young skilled people from 50 countries compete over four days to be the best in the world in their skill, at the event which took place at ExCeL in London.

In order to qualify for Team UK, Phillip & Stuart had to first compete and win gold at the Skillbuild NI National Competition. Providing a unique stage to showcase excellence and talent, Skillbuild NI is hosted annually each spring and 100 of the top apprentices compete to win coveted titles in 12 different construction craft areas ranging from plumbing to brickwork. Skillbuild NI has the support of the CITB-ConstructionSkills NI, the Department for Employment and Learning, Construction Employers Federation and major sponsors such as H&J Martin, Gilbert Ash and Haldane Fisher and Snickers Workwear amongst others. The winners of this competition qualified for the UK National Finals via a selection process and gold medal winners at these finals were invited to join Team UK.

James equally competed in skills competitions at a regional and national level in landscaping in order to qualify for Team UK in this category.

David Cooper Chairman of Skillbuild NI said: "We are absolutely delighted for the medal winners and indeed all of those from NI who were part of Team UK.

"The team have worked extremely hard over the last twelve months to perfect their skills and this has now been acknowledged with a Gold, Silver and Bronze Medal – a tremendous achievement.

"We are thrilled that having demonstrated their skills on the local stage at Phillip, Stuart and James have been able to achieve such success on a world stage. This award reflects the exceptionally high standards of technical and professional education in Northern Ireland."

(CD/BMcC)