On the morning of the 11th of November over thirty of Dublin’s most important education providers transformed the hall of the Community and Civic centre into a bustling exhibition.
Leaving cert students and members of the public were invited to browse the many exhibition stands, chat to the various staff members present about courses and attend talks on specific careers. The local community Gardai were also present to chat to students about careers in the force as was Lieutenant James Moran who gave an interesting presentation on the defence forces. There was the welcome addition of Tomas Ronan from the clinic in the resource centre offering relaxing massage and information for those interested in the complimentary health industry.

The talk on student finances by Philip Connolly from the City of Dublin VEC grants section was packed to the rafters indicating the pressing financial concerns facing students. Highlights of the day were the local organisations very ably represented by Jackie Hoy from the Base whose talk on youth work as a career was very eagerly attended, Derek O’Kelly from the Irish Academy of Beauty spoke about careers in beauty therapy emphasising the importance of getting a good leaving cert as a first step and Frank Gilligan from Ballyfermot Local Area Drugs Task Force gave an inspiring talk on his personal experiences in his career in community development.

Speaking on the day Fergal Scully, Education Access Officer with the Partnership, thanked all the students, members of the public and the organisations for participating and said “it was great to see so many of the students from the local schools, youth services and training centres attending and the fact that we also had interest from so many organisations outside the area was a measure of the success of this annual event.”