Issue 15 Spring 2013 - National Rural Network

Training for Jobs in Wind Energy
There are jobs for skilled operatives in the growing wind
energy sector judging by the outcome of a course run in
Kilkenny last year. Of the 20 people who participated in the
course, 12 have already secured employment.
The intensive six-day course was run by Carlow Kilkenny
Energy Agency and supported by Kilkenny LEADER Partnership
(KLP). A further course is about to get underway and,
according to Siobhan Mehigan of KLP, there is very strong
demand for places.
The courses are held in the Glas Learning Centre at
Ennisnag in Kilkenny and at a state of the art facility in
Wexford which was purpose-built to train people to work at
heights. Participants receive a UK renewables certificate on
completion which is a requirement for people working at
heights on turbines.
Siobhan Mehigan said a significant number of the
participants to date are skilled people who worked in the
construction sector. “Due to the highly technical level of the
training combined with the fact that many of the potential
jobs may not be in their home area, participants must be
willing to travel and be committed to working in the wind
sector”, she said.
Most of the employment to date has been in wind
farms outside of Ireland due to the relatively low level of
development of the Irish wind energy sector. However, there
will be growing opportunities over the coming years and
these participants will have the skills and experience to avail
of these.
Siobhan Mehigan stressed that the skills acquired in these
courses are not solely confined to the wind energy sector.
For example, one participant got employment with a crane
operating company, demonstrating the transferability of the
skills acquired during the training programme.
Paul and Moya Meade in front of the converted
farm buildings which now act as a state of the
art neuro-development therapy centre.
Buildings Converted
to Therapy Centre
A cow byre and other farm buildings on a farm
in Meath now act as a state of the art neurodevelopmental
therapy centre thanks to the ingenuity
of Paul and Moya Meade.
The Meades, who farm at Balrath, Navan, had a
family experience with delayed neuro-development.
Moya, a nurse, did exhaustive research and did a
course in neuro-development therapy. They then
decided to convert an old cow byre into a unit that
would provide therapy in a tranquil rural environment.
They soon became convinced of the need for a
facility that would cater for children in the wider
region and decided to convert all the adjoining
old buildings. Several hundred thousand euro were
invested and they received a grant of €65,000 from
Meath Partnership under the LEADER Programme.
The initial facility had been used to accommodate
members of the Bangladesh team when Ireland
hosted the Special Olympics so they decided to
call the facility the Bangla Therapy Centre. It is
now used by occupational therapists in the north
east and by the HSE to treat children with delayed
neuro-development. The condition manifests itself
in a range of symptoms such as late speech, late
crawling, poor balance and poor concentration.
Children on the autism spectrum are also treated at
the centre.
At the announcement of details of the 2013 course
on wind energy training, run by Carlow Kilkenny
Energy Agency and supported by Kilkenny LEADER
Partnership (KLP) were from left: Seamus Davis
and Martin Rafter, KLP with Tara McGrath, Daralinn
Training and Consultancy and Denis Drennan,
Chairman KLP.
It is a magnificent building with an exterior cedar
wood finish, a spacious exercise area and a fully
padded trampoline room. It has a number of
consultation rooms and a kitchen facility. Situated in a
rural setting, it offers a calm and tranquil environment
with hens, sheep and cattle in the adjoining fields
and farmyard. There is ample parking and costs for
therapists and the health services using the facility are
much lower than in an urban area.
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