'My name is Deirdre Doohan and this is my story of how I came to be an apprentice carpenter/joiner.
'After my Leaving Certificate in 1989 I was accepted into the Furniture College in Letterfrack. This National Certificate Course in Furniture Design and Making is an educational partnership between Connemara West and Galway RTC and is the only third level course in the country devoted to the design and making of fine quality modern furniture. Here I was equipped with skills to design and make furniture, covering design theory, problem solving techniques, aesthetic understanding and design skills such as technical drawing and analytical presentation. I also studied the history and social context of design and a study of modern business systems as applied to small workshops and firms.
'Having successfully completed this course I got my first job with Mr Gerry Laverty in the Laverty Design workshops in Dunkineely where I gained experience in shop fitting, wood finishing and fitted furniture making under the supervision of Mr Laverty, a skilled craftsman.'
However Deirdre felt that she hadn't a broad enough range of skills because the fine furniture work she was doing was a very specialised line and she wanted to do an apprenticeship. She applied to FAS for training as an apprentice carpenter/joiner. FAS sponsored Deirdre in her first year off-the-job apprenticeship. Following this she was selected to go abroad on a Wider Horizons Programme.
'In October '93 I went abroad on a three months Wider Horizons Programme with twenty other young people with various other skills. Based in the University of South Western Louisiana in Lafayette, I worked in a small workshop under the supervision of Mr Nolan Baras. Here I covered skills such as woodcarving, scroll work, wood burning etc. I also had access to a workshop on campus where I constructed my first piece of designer furniture since leaving Letterfrack College - a piece I called The Bishop's Chair.
'Since January 1994 I am working on Tory Island as a shop fitter with Clar Horizon. This project was set up on the Island in 1993. Pan of the aim of this project is to actively involve State bodies in the development of the Island such as Udaras Na Gaeltachta, Roinn Na Gaeltachta, Teagasc and FAS. Working close at hand with Seamus Coll from the Gweedore FAS Centre I will shortly be moving to a new workshop on the Island using my skills in fine woodworking, design and craft work to make wooden crafts from locally grown timbers for sale on the island.'
Deirdre is currently in the second year of her apprenticeship.
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