Triple triumph for ETB as awards honour local learners

LIMERICK & Clare Education & Training Board (ETB) scooped three national awards at this year’s ETB Excellence Awards, as part of ETB Week 2025.

The awards took place on March 27 in Croke Park and showcase Ireland’s sixteen ETBs and the services they provide to learners of all ages.

Single mum and learner Catherine Ruiz won the 2025 Award for Excellence in Care for her extraordinary support of her son Noah and his recent achievement at a national hospitality competition.

Limerick School of Music prodigy Abhishek Jino won the ETB Allstars talent competition and a prize of €1000, and performed for the capacity crowd.

Limerick Youth Theatre took home the Excellence in Youth Services award for their short film Lmaha.
The awards, hosted by former ETB learner and RTÉ newsreader Ray Kennedy, featuring a special musical performance by former ETB student and singer Tolü Makay, highlighted learner and staff excellence across primary, secondary and further education and training.

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Opening the event and addressing over 200 staff and learners from across Ireland. Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, James Lawless said: “Your dedication reminds us that education is not just about what we learn, it is about what we become. It is about pushing limits, breaking barriers, and striving for excellence every single day.

“My department is committed to removing barriers to education and ensuring that opportunities are available to all - regardless of background, age, or circumstance. Education changes lives, and through your efforts, we are ensuring that more people in Ireland have access to learning opportunities”.

The excellence awards were the flagship event for ETB Week 2025, which also included events across the 16 ETBs to promote their services and the launch of a landmark book on ETBs edited by former education editor of the Irish Independent, Katherine Donnelly.

Paddy Lavelle, ETBI’s general secretary added: “We’re proud of our inclusive approach to education which reaches beyond the ordinary, and brings teaching and learning into communities, to people of all ages and abilities, including the most marginalised groups in society”.