Search

14 Oct 2025

'We are proud': Thousands of Clare people and businesses take part in Skillnet training

Figures from their report reveal that the national agency for talent development delivered over 17,200 training days in Clare last year

'We are proud': Thousands of Clare people and businesses take part in Skillnet training

Image via Pixabay

Reporter:

Ellie McCarthy

22 Aug 2025 1:00 PM

Skillnet Ireland have revealed through their annual report that over 2,500 people and 650 businesses in Clare participated in upskilling training last year. 
 
Figures show that the national agency for talent development delivered over 17,200 training days in the county in 2024. 58% of those who undertook training were men and 42% were women, while those aged 30 to 39 availed of upskilling supports more than any other age group.
 
Commenting on the uptake of Skillnet Ireland supports, Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, James Lawless TD, said: “As the national workforce development agency, Skillnet Ireland plays a key role in developing the talent that Irish businesses need through upskilling and reskilling. In 2024, it supported over 24,000 businesses, the vast majority of them SMEs, to address their skills needs in order to remain competitive. By supporting Irish businesses to upskill and reskill, Skillnet Ireland is helping to foster resilience and innovation, so that companies can adapt to and meet the challenges posed by the digital and green transitions.”
 
93% of companies in Clare that upskilled their employees with Skillnet Ireland in 2024 were small and medium size enterprises. The greatest uptake came from the agriculture sector followed by services, technology, health, transportation, tourism & travel and manufacturing.
 
Skillnet Ireland Chief Executive, Mark Jordan, said: “As a knowledge-based economy nurturing our highly skilled workforce is central to our national competitiveness.  Over 24,000 Irish businesses chose to invest in upskilling and develop their people through Skillnet Ireland in 2024, which indicates the appetite for upskilling within the corporate landscape. We are proud to support employers throughout Ireland to both invest in their teams and strengthen Ireland’s position as a leader in innovation and sustainable growth.”
As the national talent development agency, Skillnet Ireland is working to support businesses in Clare, to build competitiveness through skills and to meet both the challenges and opportunities that owning and running a business brings.
 
More than 24,000 businesses participated in upskilling programmes for their employees through Skillnet Ireland last year, amounting to 90,136 workers across the Irish economy.

To continue reading this article,
please subscribe and support local journalism!

Subscribing will allow you access to all of our premium content and archived articles.

Subscribe

To continue reading this article for FREE,
please kindly register and/or log in.

Registration is absolutely 100% FREE and will help us personalise your experience on our sites. You can also sign up to our carefully curated newsletter(s) to keep up to date with your latest local news!

Register / Login

Most Popular

Sponsored Content

Multimedia

We've got Donegal Covered...

Subscribe or register today to discover more from DonegalLive.ie

Buy a paper

Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.

Buy Now
Get the news

Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.

Register Here
Iconic Media is Ireland's largest independently owned regional newspaper and media group, with an unrivalled audience in print, online and mobile. We have 19 regional newspapers and 21 digital sites.

Iconic Digital Titles

  • Carlow Live
  • Clare Live
  • Derry Now
  • Donegal Live
  • Éire Bheo
  • Inish Live
  • Ireland Live
  • Kildare Live
  • Kildare Now
  • Kilkenny Live
  • Laois Live
  • Leitrim Live
  • Letterkenny Live
  • Limerick Live
  • Longford Live
  • Louth Live
  • Mayo Live
  • Nenagh Live
  • Offaly Live
  • Tipperary Live
  • Waterford Live

    • Iconic Print Titles

  • Clonmel Nationalist
  • County Derry Post
  • Derry News
  • Donegal Democrat
  • Donegal Post
  • Dundalk Democrat
  • Homes in Donegal
  • Inish Times
  • Kilkenny People
  • Leinster Express
  • Leinster Leader
  • Leitrim Observer
  • Letterkenny Live
  • Limerick Leader
  • Longford Leader
  • Mayo News
  • Midland Tribune
  • Tipperary Star
  • Tullamore Tribune

    • This publication supports the work of the Press Council of Ireland and Office of the Press Ombudsman, and our staff operate within the Code of Practice of the Press Council. You can obtain a copy of the Code, or contact the Council, at www.presscouncil.ie, Lo-call 1800 208 080 or email: info@presscouncil.ie.

    © 2025 Iconic Media