Northern Ireland further education talent shines on world stage
Date published:
Northern Ireland’s further education students have delivered a world-class performance on the global stage, bringing home a gold medal, bronze medal and five medals for excellence from WorldSkills in Shanghai.
The competitors from Southern Regional College, South West College and Riverpark Training showcased their skills against some of the best young talent from across the world at the prestigious international competition, commonly known as the ‘Skills Olympics’.
Ruth Douglas, from Banbridge, was crowned world champion in Chemical Laboratory Technology, winning gold. Ruth works at Almac and attends Southern Regional College.
Oisin McKerr, from Lurgan, secured bronze in Car Painting. Oisin works for Porters Body Shop and attends Southern Regional College.
Medals for excellence, recognising world-class standards, were also awarded to:
- Andrew McCann, from Aughnacloy, in Plumbing & Heating. Andrew works for AMC Plumbing & Heating and attends South West College.
- Joe Wilton, from Ballymena, in Autobody Repair. Joe works for SDM Paintwork and attends Riverpark Training.
- Jonathan Gough, from Waringstown, in Electrical Installation. Jonathan is self-employed and attends Southern Regional College.
- Caolan McCartan, from Newry, and Patrick Sheerin, who works for AJ Power and is from Portadown, in Industry 4.0. Both attend Southern Regional College.
Economy Minister Dr Caoimhe Archibald, who met some of the competitors at Stormont before they travelled to Shanghai, hailed their outstanding success. She said:
“What an incredible achievement. Our competitors have taken on the very best in the world and shown that we have the talent and skills to compete and win on the global stage.
“To bring home gold, bronze and five medals for excellence is an outstanding result and every one of our competitors should be immensely proud.
“Their success also speaks volumes about the quality of our further education colleges, training providers and employers. Developing world-class skills is vital to creating good jobs, improving productivity and building a stronger economy, and these young people are fantastic ambassadors for what the north has to offer.”
Notes to editors:
- Photo captions: Economy Minister Dr Caoimhe Archibald has congratulated our further education colleges and students after they delivered a world-class performance on the global stage, bringing home a gold medal, bronze medal and five medals for excellence from WorldSkills in Shanghai. The Minister met some of the competitors and college representatives at Parliament Buildings before they headed to Shanghai for the ‘Skills Olympics’.
- The students were competing at WorldSkills 2026 as part of Team UK. They competed against 1,400 of their peers from more than 70 nations.
- For media enquiries contact the Department for the Economy Press Office.
- The Executive Information Service operates an out of hours service for media enquiries only between 1800hrs and 0800hrs Monday to Friday and at weekends and public holidays. The duty press officer can be contacted on 028 9037 8110.
- To keep up to date with news from the Department for the Economy, follow us on X, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn