Northern Ireland going for gold at WorldSkills 2017

Four very talented competitors from Northern Ireland will be competing for gold in the world’s largest vocational skills competition in Abu Dhabi this year as part of Team UK.

Pictured from left to right are WorldSkills 2017 competitors Adam Ferguson from Ballymena competing in Landscape Gardening, Armondas Tamulis, from Portadown competing in Wall and Floor Tiling and Cameron Nutt from Claudy competing in Carpentry.

WorldSkills 2017 sees young people from 77 member countries and regions travel to Abu Dhabi to compete in 51 skill competitions.

Northern Ireland competitors Adam Ferguson, Cameron Nutt, Andrew Gault and Armondas Tamulis have been given a special send-off reception by the Department for the Economy at Belfast Metropolitan College before starting their journey to the Middle East.

Speaking from the event Eugene Rooney, Deputy Secretary at the Department said: “I want to congratulate all the Northern Ireland competitors on being selected for WorldSkills 2017. They have already been successful against strong competition from apprentices and students from across the UK, and now have the opportunity to test their skills against the best in the world.

“Entering international skills competitions such as these enables WorldSkills UK to benchmark the employability skills of our apprentices with those from around the world and showcases Northern Ireland talent on the global stage. 

Mr Rooney continued: “I would encourage all those interested in developing their skills and learning more about similar competitions to visit the Department for the Economy Skills to Succeed page on nidirect. Information is available to the public and employers to find out more about the range of programmes and assistance aimed at helping people to develop their own employability skills, as well as meeting the demands of the local economy. 

Notes to editors: 

1. WorldSkills takes place in Abu Dhabi from 14-19 October 2017. Further information is available at Worldskills Abu Dhabi 2017 website.

2. The full list of Northern Ireland competitors in Team UK for WorldSkills Abu Dhabi 2017 are:

3. For further information, please contact DfE Press Office on 028 9052 9604. Out of office hours, please contact the Duty Press Officer via pager number 07623 974383 and your call will be returned.

4. Follow us on Twitter @Economy_NI

Share this page