Daniel Arnold, a student at the FÁS Training Centre, Athlone has scooped a rare City & Guilds Medal for Excellence award in recognition of his exceptional work. Daniel was awarded the honour for his performance throughout his studies towards a City & Guilds Certificate in Computer Aided Engineering Programmable Logic Controllers.
Daniel was presented with his award last week by Minister for Research and Innovation, Seán Sherlock at the City & Guilds Irish awards ceremony in Dublin. He is one of only nine medal winners in Ireland chosen from more than 20,000 learners in this country alone and over a million learners internationally.
Presenting the award Minister Sherlock said, “I am delighted to congratulate each City & Guilds Medals for Excellence award recipient. This award is a true testament to the high standard which each of you has achieved in striving for excellence and success with your particular qualification area. These accolades are a benchmark for all learners and trainers to aspire to as they demonstrate that dedication and hard work brings reward.”
“In addition, the skills being recognised here today are essential in the current recessionary times as we need a highly skilled workforce to ensure economic recovery and help us retain our competitiveness,” he concluded.
After 28 years working as an industrial electrician and despite his extensive experience, Daniel found that a qualification in the area of Programmable Logic Controllers would greatly help his employment prospects so he attended FÁS in Athlone to study the City & Guilds qualification. He was nominated by Bernie Geraghty, Training and Standards Officer at FÁS, for his exceptional commitment and leadership qualities.
Having gone on to complete another City & Guilds qualification in Fibre Optic Cabling, Daniel is now working as a fibre optic technician with KN Networks travelling countrywide in Ireland.
Brid Healy, country manager City & Guilds Ireland, commented, “I’d like to offer my heartfelt congratulations to all the students and lecturers who have been recognised at the annual Medals for Excellence. It really is a huge achievement to receive this award and to be selected from amongst such a large pool.
“Each recipient provides hope and inspiration for all those entering the world of vocational education for the first time or returning to education to develop new skills.”
For more information on City & Guilds programmes log on to www.cityandguilds.com/ireland
