“I started The School of Jewellery Ireland in 2011 and it quickly grew through hard work and passion. My ambition was to offer jewellery courses that were run professionally with an abundance of quality tools and equipment. We built a team of tutors with diverse skills and ideas. The students responded warmly to what we were offering, and our courses were fully booked. Feedback from students who completed the courses was consistently positive and other companies in the jewellery trade called on us looking to recruit our graduates. Paul Coyne joined the team in November 2015 and his support, skill and passion were an asset to The School of Jewellery Ireland and assisted greatly in the school’s growth.

As the School developed, we realised that the Full Time Course and the Shorter Courses were aimed at two very different markets. I wanted to focus my energy and passion on the Full Time Courses and contribute to stemming the loss of traditional jewellery skills. Paul’s aspirations were to grow the varied shorter duration skills courses and compete with other players in that segment. To facilitate the growth of both businesses, Paul and I decided that the best approach would be to establish two separate entities. Deirdre O’Donnell - Jewellery Skills and Design Courses will teach the Full Time Courses. The School of Jewellery Ireland will focus on a wide variety of shorter courses. In this way it is our ambition to grow both schools, while we continue to collaborate for the benefit of both businesses “.

Deirdre O’Donnell