Alphons Joby from Castlerea Community School is the overall winner of the 2026 National Career Skills Competition for his comprehensive report on his work placement at Shannon Aviation Museum and for his detailed career investigation into Aerospace Engineering.
Ms Eimear Sinnott, Director of CareersPortal.ie confirmed that 1,700 students from all across Ireland entered this year, the highest number in the past 16 years of this competition.
Alphons Joby was announced as the overall winner, with his project being described as exceptional. Alphons and the other 2026 finalists from all over Ireland were honoured at a special ceremony in The Clock Tower, Department of Education on Wednesday, May 6th.
Alphons was awarded a gold cup, and an Apple MacBook Air laptop, while the school received €1,000 in recognition of their outstanding accomplishments in this year’s competition. In a press statement, Castlerea Community School said that all at the school are immensely proud of Alphons for his remarkable achievements in this prestigious national competition.
Thanks were extended to Ms Eileen Ryan (principal) and Ms Margaret Larkin (mentor) who celebrated this very special day with Alphons and his family at the awards ceremony in Dublin last week.
