DONEGAL welder Lee Davison, from Buncrana, is getting ready to represent Ireland at the 47th WorldSkills Competition in France later this month.
Lee won the WorldSkills Ireland 2023 Welding competition in Dublin last September and has spent the last five months training full-time for the global competition under Donegal Education and Training Board (ETB) Welding Instructor and WorldSkills Ireland Expert and Chief Examiner in Welding, Cathal McGee.
WorldSkills is the Olympics for vocational, technological, and service-oriented skills.
The competition takes place every two years, attracting more than 1,600 competitors from over 60 countries to compete across 56 skill areas from a wide range of industries — from joinery to floristry; hairdressing to electronics; and autobody repair to bakery.
The competitors represent the best of their peers and are selected from skills competitions that are held in WorldSkills member countries and regions.
After completing his Leaving Certificate at Crana College in Buncrana, Lee progressed to Donegal ETB’s Further Education and Training (FET) Service to undertake a basic welding course in its Letterkenny Training Centre, followed by an intermediate welding course in Gaoth Dobhair.
Following a spell working in the industry, he returned to complete coded pipe welding training with the ETB and has been working ever since for Michael Doherty of D&F Piping as a pipe welder.
After months of training, Lee is really looking forward to the competition.
“I’m honoured to be part of Team Ireland to represent Ireland in the welding category. Welding is my passion and I’m continually looking at ways to improve my processes. I always have my eye on what is coming next in the field and want to future-proof my skills. I never imagined that I would be competing on the world stage and I’m looking forward to flying the flag high for Ireland. Hopefully, I will inspire others to follow suit.”
“I would like to thank the sponsors Metron Electric and Lincoln Electric for their support in helping make this a reality. My thanks also to Donegal ETB and Cathal Mc Gee, for the opportunity to train for this and to my employer D&F Piping for their support to date,” he added.
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