Limerick ceramics artist wins big at Future Makers Awards in RDS

DESIGN & Crafts Council Ireland (DCCI) has announced the 26 winners of the Future Makers Awards 2025. 

Limerick ceramics artist Daniel Fitzpatrick was among the winners, being awarded the Travel and Training award in the Student/Recent Graduate category at the awards ceremony, held in the RDS. 

Furniture maker Christopher Tuohy from Cork, was awarded the 2025 Overall Emerging Maker award, while Rachel Kenny, a paper maker from Dublin, was announced as the Sustainable Design award winner. 

Textile artist and designer Clodagh Nathan from Co Kildare, was the recipient of the Overall Student award, while in the student and recent graduate sustainability category, Lucy O’Sullivan, a furniture maker from Kildare, was announced as the Sustainable Design award winner.

Established in 2009, Future Makers is a DCCI initiative which recognises talent, potential and creativity. 

"Future Makers is a platform to showcase the talent of the next generation of makers, designers, and craftspeople looking to take the step from training into enterprise, and it provides them with much-needed financial support," a spokesperson for DCCI said.

"It covers a wide range of disciplines and recognises vision, innovation and excellence among students and recent graduates."

It is one of the largest prize-funded design and craft award programmes in Europe, with each winner receiving a mentoring package valued at €2,000 in addition to the award.

In total, Future Makers offers an award fund of €25,000 and mentoring package of €52,000 in expert guidance and support to the award recipients.

Peter Burke TD, Minister of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment commented: “The Future Makers Awards are a really important platform that shines a light on the extraordinary creativity and skill emerging from Ireland’s design and craft community. 

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“Over the past 16 years, this initiative has given countless designers and makers the opportunity to grow, to be recognised and to push their practice forward with meaningful support. Every year we see work that is not only inventive and ambitious but also connects to Ireland’s cultural identity.”

He added: “Congratulations to all the winners and wishing you every success for the future.”

Mary Blanchfield, CEO of DCCI, said “We are pleased to announce the winners of Future Makers 2025, an initiative dedicated to recognising, supporting and building capability and capacity within the next generation of designers and makers across Ireland. 

“The calibre of submissions this year was exceptionally high, reflecting the breadth of talent, creativity, and innovation within the sector. The award recipients demonstrate the vision, skill, and commitment that will ensure the continued strength and advancement of Irish craft and design both nationally and internationally,” she continued.

Leah Capaldi, artist and Future Makers Awards judge, commented: “Irish craft isn’t just about tradition - it’s a living, growing way of expressing who we are. The Future Makers Awards, run by Design & Crafts Council Ireland, helps keep that spirit alive. 

“By backing students and emerging creatives from a wide field of disciplines, the programme makes sure Irish design stays fresh, bold, exciting and ready for the world.”

Judges this year include Victoria Donovan, a silversmith with almost 40 years’ experience and a recipient of the Kilkenny Design Workshops scholarship in 1986, Anneliese Duffy Fallon, owner of The Linen Shirt Company and founder of Fashion Connect Ireland, Leah Capaldi, a London-based artist celebrated for her pioneering work at the intersection of sculpture and performance, Brankica Zilovic, a French-Serbian artist and educator based in Paris, Belén Llamas-Ferrier, an art framer who has worked in the industry for more than 20 years and Róisín Pierce, who operates across multiple disciplines with a focus on material innovation and poetic forms.