Jennifer Nisbet-Daly MPRII
Communications Executive, CIF
Learn how one organisation is leveraging creativity and technology to encourage future careers in construction.
The Construction Industry Federation (CIF) is dedicated to showcasing the benefits of a construction career for the next generation. To help advance this goal, CIF supports Maynooth University’s STEM Passport for Inclusion, a programme designed to address unequal access to STEM courses and careers for second-level students from underserved communities, empowering students by providing a recognised STEM qualification and the support of an industry mentor.
CIF’s recent STEM mentorship video campaign succeeded in increasing the number of industry mentors from 12 to 120. To learn more about the STEM Passport for Inclusion and to view the campaign, visit our website.
Today’s young people are digital natives and innovators, making them uniquely positioned to tackle Ireland’s housing, infrastructure and sustainability needs in the future.
Initiatives to inspire future STEM careers
To inspire school-goers to consider a future career in the industry, CIF hosted an immersive ‘Construction Zone’ at ‘iWish,’ an event that took place in the RDS in February, promoting STEM careers to approximately 4,000 secondary schoolgirls.
Featuring interactive exhibits, talks from industry experts and a strong presence of female industry role models, including Rose of Tralee Katelyn Cummins and stonemason Petra O’Flaherty, who is part of the Government’s Building Heroes campaign, CIF’s Construction Zone helped highlight the role of women in shaping the future construction workforce.
Apprentice stonemason Petra O’Flaherty joined us again at the CIF International Women’s Day Summit 2026 by taking over the CIF TikTok channel to share her experience and highlight her takeaways. As the first woman in Ireland to pursue a stonemasonry apprenticeship in more than 30 years, Petra brings a unique boots on the ground perspective, which she regularly shares with her growing online community.
‘A Day in My Boots’
The summit featured an apprentice graduate panel, ‘A Day in My Boots,’ where female graduate engineers, sustainability professionals, site managers and other emerging talent shared candid insights into their day to day experiences and career journeys. The panel was live linked to an all girls’ secondary school, allowing students to ask panellists directly about their career journeys, with reigning Rose of Tralee and electrical apprentice Katelyn Cummins hosting the Q&A session.
Today’s young people are digital natives and innovators, making them uniquely positioned to tackle Ireland’s housing, infrastructure and sustainability needs in the future.
To learn more about CIF’s efforts to drive careers in construction, follow our social channels or visit cif.ie/careersinconstruction/
