Two Southern Regional College students have won bronze in Industry 4.0 at EuroSkills Herning 2025 in Denmark.
Patrick Sheerin (24) from Portadown and Caolan McCartan (24) from Camlough, recently secured the medal as part of Team UK’s 19-strong delegation competing against 600 young professionals from across Europe.
The competition ran from Tuesday 9th to Saturday 13th September, with competitors tested across multiple technical disciplines.
Patrick and Caolan qualified for Team UK following their gold medal performance at the WorldSkills UK national competition in Manchester last November. They subsequently completed months of intensive training with Team UK training manager Marcin Regulski, including pressure tests and bootcamps leading up to the European competition.
Both students began their WorldSkills journey during higher level apprenticeships at Southern Regional College under engineering and mechatronics lecturer Seán MacDiarmada. Patrick graduated in 2024 with an Engineering BEng (Hons) degree and now works as a Mechanical Engineer with Portadown-based AJ Power. Caolan is employed by Camlough engineering firm Pronto Engineering Group while completing the final year of his Mechatronics foundation degree higher level apprenticeship at SRC.
Lee Campbell, Principal & Chief Executive of Southern Regional College, commented: “A huge congratulations to the whole of Team UK on their outstanding performance at EuroSkills Herning. As a College, we are especially proud of Patrick Sheerin and Caolan McCartan for securing a well-deserved bronze medal at this international competition.
“We are incredibly proud of all our students who have taken part in the WorldSkills series and have pushed themselves to excel. Their determination, drive and dedication to excel is truly commendable.”
Industry 4.0 bronze medallists Patrick Sheerin and Caolan McCartan
Five SRC students competed at the European event in total. Recent Engineering BEng graduates John Doherty and Jason McVerry competed in mechatronics, while electrical installation apprentice Jonathan Gough represented Team UK in the electrical installation category.
Ben Blackledge, Chief Executive, WorldSkills UK said: “We are incredibly proud of the whole of Team UK, who have shown commitment, determination and resilience over three days of intense competition. EuroSkills is a key part of our training programme for WorldSkills Shanghai 2026.
“We selected a young, driven team that show huge potential to develop into world-class skilled professionals, to compete against more experienced competitors from across Europe. This has allowed the team to accelerate their development through the unique opportunity of competition at the highest level, in preparation for WorldSkills Shanghai 2026. We are firmly on track to showcase the very best of UK skills on the global stage next year.”
Team UK will continue training with the WorldSkills UK squad ahead of potential selection for WorldSkills Shanghai 2026. The event, known as the ‘Skills Olympics’, takes place from 22nd to 27th September 2026 and attracts government representatives, educationalists and employers from around the world.
