The Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Jimmy Deenihan sealed yet another coup for the town of Tralee and its place in the film industry this week as he officially opened the town’s new state of the art National Digital Skills Centre, the final result of €1.5 million government investment.
Designed to enhance the provision of training in audiovisual content production that SOLAS (formerly FÁS) have provided at the Tralee Training Centres since 1987, this new development unites the human and physical resources of all three existing training units into one centre.
The variety of education on offer is set to expand also, with courses in animation and gaming set to be made available in the new year alongside the already-effective slate of courses in television and video production, interactive media and radio broadcasting.
Speaking at the launch, Mister Deenihan praised the hands-on approach adopted at the Tralee Training Centre, allowing learns to go into the working world already equipped with exhaustive skills training in an industry that employs over 6,000 individuals in Ireland with an estimated economic pull of over €550m.
Said SOLAS CEO Paul O’Toole: “The success of the programmes is evidenced by the positive outcomes that have been achieved to date. Many past participants are now placed in a variety of well-known companies such as RTE, TV3, TG4, BBC, Open Eye, Another Avenue and Coco TV”.
Irish Film Board Chairman and broadcaster Bill O’Herlihy was also present at the official opening ceremony, lauding the new centre as yet another development “that will ensure the continued success of the Irish film, television and animation industry now and long into the future.”
Further information on Studio Solas can be found on their IFTN listings page here.
