Northern Ireland has outperformed any other UK region at the Wordskills London 2012.

Seven young people from NI formed part of the 43 person Team UK, winning gold, silver and bronze medals as well as two Medallions for Excellence.

The Northern Irish contribution to Team UK's outstanding success has been praised by the Employment and Learning Minister, Dr Stephen Farry, as testament to the hard work, skills and high standard of training provision in the province.

Speaking at the awards ceremony, the Minister pledged further support for skills competitions nationally and worldwide.

-- Advertisement --

He said: "This has been NI's most successful WorldSkills ever. It is important to acknowledge NI's performance at WorldSkills London, so that we can not only applaud it, but also learn from it and spread the message about the quality of our professional and technical training and the world-class skills of our workforce more widely."

The awards accepted by Northern Irish participants included a gold medal in bricklaying, silver in landscape gardening, bronze in refrigeration and air-conditioning; as well as medallions for Excellence in mechatronics – an honour only awarded to those who reach world-class level in their skills discipline.

David Cragg, Deputy Chairman, WorldSkills London 2011 said: "I would like to offer my congratulations to all of the Northern Irish competitors whose inspirational performances at WorldSkills London 2011 helped Team UK secure its most successful result to date. The high number of medals awarded is testament to the support of Colleges and employers and the high standards of training in NI."

(HMcE/CD)