Buncrana’s Lee Davison to represent Ireland in World welding competition

Buncrana welder Lee Davison is to represent Ireland at the 47th WorldSkills Competition in France in September.

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 the Donegal Education and Training Board (ETB) welding instructor, 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,”  he said. 

“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.

This is the third time Donegal ETB welding instructor Cathal McGee, from Stranorlar, has trained Ireland’s WorldSkills welding competitors. 

As the first-ever welding staff member from an Education and Training Board to be appointed to this expert position, he previously trained Christopher Kehoe from Dubin, for the 2019 WorldSkills competition in Kazan, Russia and Jamie Leahy from Kerry for the 2022 WorldSkills competition in Cleveland, Ohio.

Speaking about the upcoming competition, Cathal said: “Lee is an extremely talented welder and has put a lot of hard work into his training over the last few months which his employer Michael Doherty of D&F Piping freed him up to undertake. Ireland’s last two competitors came home from the competitions in Russia and the United States with Medallions of Excellence – I have every confidence in Lee’s skills and I’m looking forward to getting to Lyon now.”

Since 1950, WorldSkills has raised awareness among young people, as well as their parents, teachers and employers, that their future depends on an effective skills training system. The twenty largest economies in the world are Members of WorldSkills, as are the five most populous. In all, the membership represents two-thirds of the world’s population.

Speaking about Donegal ETB’s involvement in the WorldSkills competition, Ciaran O’Brien, Donegal ETB’s Director of Further Education and Training (FET) said: “I want to wish Lee and Cathal the very best of luck at the WorldSkills Competition. Welding comes under the Manufacturing and Engineering Technology category and the competition provides leaders in industry, government and education with the opportunity to exchange information and best practices regarding industry and professional education.” 

“Donegal ETB is one of the leading providers of welding training in the Irish further education and training sector, having been the first in Ireland to introduce augmented reality welding several years ago and more recently, introducing robotic welding into our training, along with our staff leading the way on the national and international skills stage,” he said.

The WorldSkills Championship takes place from September 10 to 15 in Lyon in France.