Sligo Apprentice is national champ
A Sligo toolmaking apprentice has won a national toolmaking competition and will go on to compete for Ireland in Abu Dhabi later this year.
Micheál Flynn who is employed by Tool & Gauge in Tubbercurry, scooped the IrelandSkills ( Plastic Die Engineering) Competition top prize after an intensive two days of competition at IT Sligo.
Apprentices from around the country took part in the preliminary stages, from which five finalists were selected. The five from counties Carlow, Dublin, Louth and Sligo were set a demanding schedule which took place over two days, under the guidance of Armin Phillips, toolmaking expert and lecturer at IT Sligo.
The judges awarded the top prize to Micheál Brennan, who hails from Tourlestrane in south Sligo, and has completed Phase 4 of his toolmaking apprenticeship at IT Sligo.
“I’m delighted to win and it’s certainly a nice achievement to have my work rewarded in this way,” said Micheál.
“There’s a lot work in the final. We were set the task of building a small injection mould in 14 hours which made it a tight turnaround.”
Presenting Micheál with his award, Chairman of IrelandSkills John Twohig said: “Micheál will now be one of three toolmaking apprentices in contention for the Ireland team which will compete for international honours at the WorldSkills Finals in Abu Dhabi.
Head of School of Engineering & Design at IT Sligo Úna Parsons said: “Toolmaking has been an intergral part of IT Sligo’s teaching activity since the college’s inception in the 1970s. Our new plans to establish a Precision Engineering Centre of Excellence for the Institute is a 21st century reflection of that heritage.”
IT Sligo provides workshop tutoring and practical experience to up to 60 trainees from firms across Ireland each year. Hundreds of craftsmen and craftswomen have graduated the Institute’s course since it became a national centre in the 1970s.