Upgraded education centre opens in local Tipperary town

Upgraded education facilities, including workshops for up to 28 electrical apprentices, have been officially opened at a special event hosted by Tipperary ETB at Tipperary Further Education and Training College in Carrick-on-Suir.

A ribbon cutting ceremony was held to unveil the modernised ground floor classrooms and upgraded kitchen facilities at the event on Monday, December 16.

The former Comeragh College campus at Carrick-on-Suir is now the third Tipperary ETB location to host apprentices in the county, alongside Tipperary FET College in Templemore and Archerstown, Thurles.

The event was attended by special guests including Tipperary County Council Chief Executive, Sinéad Carr, local councillors, representatives from the Department of Further and Higher Education, SOLAS, SETU, building contractors Mulcahy Construction, and Michael Lamb Architects who designed the upgraded facilities.

Chairperson of Tipperary ETB, Cllr Roger Kennedy, described the upgraded facilities as a “shining light” of what can be done for the people of a town.

Two new classrooms facilitate two intakes of electrical apprentices, allowing each student to learn from instructors and apply the new skills in dedicated cubicles with modern equipment.

In addition to the apprenticeship classrooms, the ground floor classrooms for other FET courses have also been modernised, along with a more spacious kitchen and dining area for staff and students.

Damian Walshe, who manages Apprenticeship provision for Tipperary ETB, hosted the event in Carrick-on-Suir, where he also works as Co-Manager of the centre alongside Susan Dunne.

He praised the entire workforce at the centre, as well as the wider ETB organisation, for helping to bring this project to fruition.

It’s the first phase of what is hoped will be a significant redevelopment of the campus in Carrick-on-Suir.

Phase 2, which is expected to go forward for planning permission in 2025, would accommodate an extension of the facilities to incorporate new classrooms and workshops as well as additional parking, a new main entrance, and an upgrade of the first floor in the existing building.

Damian said it’s fantastic to have the full range of Further Education and Training provision now available in the town: “Carrick-on-Suir is such an apt place to have apprenticeship provision, here on the border of Kilkenny and Waterford. Thankfully, we have a massive catchment area for apprentices not only locally to Carrick-on-Suir and Tipperary, but to the cities, towns and villages across the county borders.

“We often have people from the town coming in just to see what’s going on. They’re really our biggest advocates because it’s their own families, their own sons and daughters, potentially coming in to use the centre. So, we’re delighted with what’s happened so far, and with the plans for the future here too."

Tipperary ETB is committed to further advancing its ambition in apprenticeship and feels well positioned to contribute to national apprenticeship targets by increasing its apprenticeship footprint.

Its annual intake has increased from 152 apprentices in 2018 to 547 in 2024 and there are 1,222 apprentices currently registered with the ETB, across 77 different apprenticeships in the country including in areas such as construction plant equipment, electrical, plumbing, electronic security systems, commis chef, hairdressing, sales and hospitality all of which are available in the Tipperary ETB centres.