Up to 400 people attended Tipperary school's careers event addressed by leading economist

Pictured above at the Comeragh College Future Forward Careers Event were guest speakers BEAT FM News Editor and Presenter Aoife Kearns Barrister Mark O’Hagan, School Guidance Counsellors Maria Jensen and Gemma O’Neill, guest speaker Solicitor Sinéad Lynch, Comeragh College Principal Kevin Langton and Economist and guest speaker Jim Power. Picture Anne Marie Magorrian

Senior students at Comeragh College in Carrick-on-Suir received personal insights into a wide range of occupations by the people working in them at the Future Forward Careers night in the school last week.

An estimated 400 people including parents and students attended the event in the community school on Tuesday, November 18 that was addressed by well-known economist Jim Power.

The careers evening involved a series of individual talks by representatives of a huge variety of occupations including healthcare, social care, agriculture, An Garda Síochána, the Fire Service, engineering, hairdressing, beauty, the law, pharmaceutical industry, ICT, media, air stewarding and travel, sport and fitness, construction and renewable energy, English and history.

The talks took place in classrooms around the school where the different representatives of occupations and professions were based. Each representative gave their talk three times over the course of the careers evening. Students signed up for three careers talks of interest to them.

Comeragh College students Dylan Butler, Nessa Whelan, Abby O’Neill, Lily Whelan, Cora Myles-Davis and David Osazuwa pictured at the Pictured at the Comeragh College Future Forward Careers Event in their school in Carrick-on-Suir on November 18.

The event concluded in the school’s sports hall with speeches by Comeragh College Principal Kevin Langton and Jim Power, who hails from Clonea-Power in Carrick-on-Suir’s county Waterford hinterland.

Mr Power spoke about the amazing level of opportunities available for this generation and advised them there are many different ways of getting into a career. “If you don’t attain the points needed there are other routes which will lead you there,” he said.

He emphasised the importance of life skills, the power of resilience, honesty and integrity and the value of effective communication.

Each occupation and industry representative who spoke at the event was presented with an engraved wooden plaque hand crafted in the school’s woodwork department. Teacher and past student Killian Cloona with the assistance of fellow teacher Cian Dunphy created the plaques.

Mr Langton said there was a huge turnout of students and parents to the Future Forward Careers evening and he has received excellent feedback from students.

“They heard authentic stories about how people arrived in their jobs, whether by accident or design. They got really good and honest insights of the personal journeys people made in their careers and also the basic financial implications of pursuing a particular career.”

Mr Langton paid tribute to the school’s careers guidance team, led by Maria Jensen and Gemma O’Neill, who put a huge amount of work into organising the event. He also thanked the school’s Transition Year students, other teachers, SNAs and administrative staff for the work they put into ensuring its success.

“The big winners are the students who got so much exposure to so many different areas. It will be a great help to them in choosing a career.”

He said Future Forward Careers was such a positive experience that the school will host it again.

Danielle Roche, True Beauty and Skin and Donna Holden, A New U Hairdressers in Carrick-on-Suir were guest speakers at the Comeragh College Future Forward Careers Event. Picture Anne Marie Magorrian.

Check out more photos from the Future Forward Careers event at Comeragh College in this week's edition of The Nationalist now on sale in local shops. 

READ NEXT: Carrick-on-Suir's Christmas lights will be switched on this weekend by winners of primary schools art contest