Grant to secure top notch butchers
The new 18-month scheme, due to start in October, will be a pilot project run in partnership by the Associated Craft Butchers of Ireland (ACBI) with the North’s Master Butchers Association.
A grant of E290,700 has been made as part of the overall budget of E387,500 for the project, which will encompass the North and the six border counties.
Funding is being provided through the EU’s Interreg programme.
Over 50 apprentices and a similar number of mentors will be involved. Fifty businesses in the areas covered by the scheme will be recruited as training centres.
The aim is to develop an accredited standard for training apprentice butchers across Ireland.
The project will also go some way to redressing the lack of college-based training available to aspiring butchers.
One of the principal objectives of the scheme will be to progress towards a certified qualification for those graduating based on the needs of the industry.
ACBI chief executive Pat Brady said the traditional craft or family butcher is having a revival but remains dogged by a historic manpower shortage.
Mr Brady said the project will drive forward the apprenticeship pilot programme at a faster rate than anticipated.
“The commitment of public funds is evidence that the confidence we have in the future of the trade from within is now also shared from without,” he said.
