SOLAS, the Further Education and Training (FET ) Authority for Ireland, has officially launched its first-ever Future Skills Ireland podcast series. The podcast comes at a crucial time for SOLAS, following the recent inaugural publication of the National Skills Council providing First Strategic Advice to Government on Skills Priorities.
“Future Skills Ireland includes conversations from leaders and influencers providing a spotlight on the skills that have made a difference for them,” said Shauna Dunlop, director of research, Future Skills Needs, Statistics and Risk at SOLAS. “These conversations get to the heart of many of the skills matters in Ireland and bring a new and refreshing perspective to both the challenges and the opportunities we have.”
The podcasts – available on Spotify, Apple and YouTube and hosted by Shauna Dunlop, aim to start a new national conversation on skills, featuring real life stories of careers and the skills that helped to shape them, alongside discussion and insights on future skills and national skills research, reports and statistics.
“I am excited to bring such inspiring insights and conversations from our first guests, who include Dr Kevin Marshall, the chair of the National Skills Council and the head of future skilling, Microsoft; and Andrew Brownlee, the chief executive officer of SOLAS; Bernadette Walsh, guidance leader and lecturer in Maynooth University; Dr Michael Shevlin, Professor in Inclusive Education, Trinity College, Dublin, and Patron of the Trinity Centre for People with Intellectual Disabilities; Joan Morrisey, construction skills leader in SOLAS; and Senator Lynn Ruane, with Mags Bryne, Future Skills team in SOLAS,” Ms Dunlop added.
“The SOLAS Skills and Labour Market Research Unit have been supporting and driving the skills conversation in Ireland through insightful research, reports and information for two decades,” she continued. “Alongside the national skills ecosystem, they work as a collaborative to bring the research, the data and the information that matters on skills to everyone.”
Shauna Dunlop hopes the podcasts will spark a new national conversation that will ultimately make a lasting impact. “These conversations get to the heart of many of the skills matters in Ireland and bring a new and refreshing perspective to both the challenges and the opportunities we have. I hope they will inspire the start of a new national conversation on skills which will inform and shape our national skills ambition.”
The podcasts can be downloaded via Spotify, Apple and YouTube by searching for Future Skills Ireland. For information on SOLAS, visit www.solas.ie
