A Fingal Skills Strategy Implementation Group has been established to deliver objectives of the Fingal Skills Strategy, first published in 2019, which is the first one of its kind in Ireland.

The group brings together representatives from education and training providers, employers and industry, government agencies and Fingal County Council to ensure that Fingal has the right skills for the future.

The Implementation Group is chaired by Siobhan Kinsella (pictured below), a former President of Chambers Ireland and Fingal Chamber and a director at the Noel Recruitment Group. She also chaired the Fingal Skills Strategy Advisory Group, which produced the Fingal Skills Strategy in 2019.

Siobhan Kinsella said that the diversity of group’s membership will ensure that there will be a wide range of champions to promote the Fingal Skills Strategy across the county and beyond.

They are now starting to implement the strategy’s recommendations, taking a fresh approach in the post-Covid-19 environment, and will support and actively promote ongoing engagement between enterprise and industry and education and training providers, as well as Fingal County Council.

The group’s mandate is to ensure education and training provision aligns with industry needs and that there is a pathway to skills acquisition so that skills are offered in a complementary manner with minimal duplication. It will also regularly review the need for emerging and future skills within the county.

Fingal County Council’s Chief Executive, AnnMarie Farrelly (pictured above), said: “As the local authority with the youngest population in Ireland, Fingal looks to embed our skills strategy amongst industry and academia because the report showed a skills gap across all sectors, which we need to close to ensure Fingal remains a primary location in which to invest, or grow a business.”