Mulryan hopes €500,000 apprenticeship bursary will be rolled out nationally

The chairman and chief executive of Ballymore property group, Sean Mulryan, is hopeful that a new €500,000 apprenticeship bursary aimed at young people in Roscommon will eventually be rolled out as a national programme.

Funded by the Ballymore Group and run by Galway & Roscommon Education and Training Board (GRETB), the Ballymore Construction Apprenticeship Bursary is designed to support apprentices across a range of building trades and increase participation by school-leavers or those returning to education in or from County Roscommon.

The bursary programme will be available over a five-year period to men and women who were either born, were educated or are currently living in Roscommon, Mr Mulryan’s native county.

Launching the pilot scheme on Friday afternoon at his former secondary school, Roscommon Community College, Mr Mulryan explained that the bursary’s aim was to help address Ireland’s housing and skills shortage by encouraging young people to take up construction apprenticeships.

He described “the lack of young people on building sites and the lack of young people taking up apprenticeships” as a “crisis at the moment”.

“It’s shame it’s been left so long but better late than ever. This is just a pilot scheme. If gets a take-up and it gets support, hopefully it can be rolled out across the country, and that many other companies like ours will support it. Hopefully the Government supports it as well,” he said.

The Ballymore CEO spoke about how taking up a trade himself as a young man opened up opportunities for him in the construction industry. “University education isn’t the right road for every school-leaver, and parents should encourage young people to consider avenues that may be more rewarding for them. Apprenticeships can be a pathway to running your own business or to exciting, well-paid careers,” he said.

During the launch, Mr Mulryan spoke about the impact of AI and how it will replace jobs but nottrades.

“It’s quite scary the jobs AI is going to take in the short-term; it’s happening faster than we think. But for AI, it mayhelp architects design houses to a certain extent but it’s not going to build houses or hang doors,” he explained.

He outlined that Ireland needed to drive up the rate of infrastructure delivery massively over the next five years – houses, rail links, water, energy and road systems. “And we need to ramp up the range of construction skills across the labour force to meet the pent-up demand for all kinds of public and private infrastructure.”

Mr Mulryan made a call to action to all stakeholders to promote the take-up of apprenticeships. “To everybody in the room who has the power to shape projects teams and the future of the industry, this is a call to action: hire apprentices, support apprentices and promote apprentices.

“This is a pilot scheme starting here in Roscommon. If successful, it is something that can be built upon and rolled out nationally. I am very happy that the Minister for Higher Education James Lawless has committed to increasing the apprenticeship numbers in Ireland.

“To the students here today, an apprenticeship lets you earn while you learn, build your skills and create a future that lasts. To the parents and teachers, encouragement can open doors and last a lifetime. And to everybody involved in making this pilot scheme possible, thank you,” said Mr Mulryan.

Addressing the launch, Sinead Morgan, Director of Further Education and Training (FET) at GRETB, said the bursary programme “marked a historic moment in the relationship between us as an education and training authority and private industry in creating an opportunity to improve the conditions for an apprentice who takes the path of learning a trade and honing a craft greatly in demand right now”.

Thanking Mr Mulryan for his genuine support of apprentices in his native Roscommon, she said the commitment of a €500,000 bursary fund over five years placed a flag firmly on construction apprenticeships and marked it clearly as a recognised and valued choice of career.

On behalf of the Board of GRETB, its chairperson Cllr Michael ‘Moegie’ Maher said the vision of Sean Mulryan and his commitment to supporting young people in Roscommon had made this significant bursary scheme possible.

He said the bursary represented a powerful example of what can be achieved when industry, education, and community come together with a shared purpose.

David Leahy, chief executive of GRETB said that since 2024, the Board had almost doubled the number of Phase 2 Apprenticeship places. “We want to increase this number, particularly in Roscommon, by providing additional further education and training facilities in the county, subject to appropriate funding.

“Galway and Roscommon ETB is committed to supporting Ballymore in the roll out of this bursary scheme, and we look forward to working closely with them into the future as we develop skills training capacity in Roscommon and beyond,” he said.

Roscommon Community College principal Georgina Keena, who acted as MC for the launch, said the school was delighted to welcome back former student, Mr Mulryan, who was later given a tour of the school during his visit.

The bursary is being supported by both James Lawless, Minister for Further and Higher Education and Marian Harkin, Minister of State with special responsibility for Further Education, Apprenticeship, Construction and Climate Skills.

Minister Lawless said: “Skilled trades are vital to the construction workforce, and the Government is committed to growing apprenticeships to meet this need. I commend Ballymore Group for supporting new apprentices in this direct and meaningful way. I hope it is fully taken up and leads to a big increase in apprentices in Roscommon.”

Minister Harkin stated: “I welcome Ballymore Group’s commitment to apprentices (and to Roscommon) in the launch of this bursary.

“We need to encourage people into the construction workforce to deliver on our housing and infrastructure needs and initiatives like this from industry are greatly valued,” she said.

Qualifying applicants for the Ballymore Construction Apprenticeship Bursary must be registered with a SOLAS-approved employer, and have a home address in Roscommon, been born in Roscommon, or attended a Roscommon second-level school.

The bursary is open to apprentices in the following trades: brick & stone laying, wood manufacturing & finishing, plumbing, carpentry/joinery, scaffolding, stonecutting and stonemasonry, plastering, painting & decorating, toolmaking, heavy vehicle mechanics, civil engineering technician (Level 6) and supply chain management associate (level 6).

Further information on the bursary programme at: www.gretb.ie/further-education-training/ballymore-construction-apprenticeship-bursary/