Reopening of Ireland’s fisheries colleges

Ireland’s national fisheries colleges in Greencastle, Co Donegal and Castletownbere, Co Cork, have reopened since temporary closure in March due to coronavirus.

Reopening of the colleges operated by BIM, the seafood development agency, coincides with achievement of ISO 9001:2015 certification – the internationally-recognised standard for quality management systems.

The certification ensures training methods are of a consistently high standard in both colleges and the BIM’s mobile training units.

Quality & Qualifications Ireland (QQI) has also approved a Quality Assured System for programmes that lead to awards on the the National Framework of Qualifications.

Since March, BIM has supported students through online learning and project work. For example, the Skipper Full Certificate of Competency programme was adapted and made available online.

This full-time, nine week course with an additional three week in the classroom in the National Fisheries College, Castletownbere, supports four students to achieve a skipper licence this year.