The Construction Skills Project based at Dublin Port has graduated more than 4,000 participants since it began in 2017, delivering accredited, job-ready workers directly into Ireland's building sector. The three-week programme combines construction skills and retrofitting qualifications with practical site preparation, and has delivered more than 400 courses to date.

The milestone, confirmed by St Andrew's, shows 60% of graduates secure employment within a month of completing the course, against a 90% course completion rate, with employers including John Sisk & Son, Careys Building & Civil Engineering, Walls Construction, Alufix and Clarke Concrete.

Dublin Port Company, headquartered on Alexandra Road, Dublin, is the state commercial body that manages Dublin Port and reported revenue of €106.3 million and pre-tax profit of €35.9 million for 2024. St Andrew's Resource Centre, a community organisation based at the same Alexandra Road site, runs the training through its Education and Training Hub; its pilot phase was originally supported by the Department of Social Protection and Dublin City Council under the Dublin Docklands Strategic Development Zone.

The structural driver behind the programme's scale is the standing demand from national contractors for pre-vetted, safety-certified entrants, with graduates holding SOLAS Safe Pass, manual handling and working-at-heights certification before they ever reach a live site.

Barry O'Connell, chief executive of Dublin Port Company, said the port was "proud to partner" with the programme, adding that it is "highly conscious of the necessity to maintain a continuous pipeline of talent into this vital industry."

Jim Hargis, manager of the Education and Training Hub at St Andrew's Resource Centre, said four thousand graduates "means four thousand different stories," ranging from asylum seekers travelling from Galway to people "rebuilding their lives after prison."

For the sector, the Construction Skills Project confirms that community-based, short-cycle accredited training is becoming a core supply channel for Ireland's largest contractors, rather than a supplementary route alongside apprenticeships.

Source: afloat.ie / rte.ie