Hugh Wallace Home of the Year judge Hugh Wallace has pushed back against “disappointing” attitudes towards the construction industry as students receive their Leaving Cert results today. He was speaking following the launch of new research into careers in industry by Chadwicks, which found that seven in 10 young adults in Ireland have considered pursuing a role in construction. It also showed that 42pc of tradespeople say low pay is the biggest misconception about their line of work, followed by the perception that there are “hardly any” women and the false impression that the job is “too physical”.
"When I did my Leaving Cert, I was very lucky. When I had done my mock Leaving Cert, there were 23 people in my class, I used to come twenty-first and there was no chance of me going to college. I had just wanted to do architecture from the age of four,” he said.
"I was diagnosed as dyslexic and so I did a number of my exams orally and came third in my class. Because of that, I got into college.” He said it is “disappointing” that some stereotypes towards careers in construction are slow to lose footing, in particular around pay and gender, adding that there is a need to dispel “pretentious” attitudes that still hold onto university as a status symbol.
Despite many parents polled by Chadwicks saying they would be happy if their child did pursue a career in the trades, 73pc have not actively encouraged their child to do so with half believing there is a lack of career progression and the perception that the industry is male dominated. More than 60,000 students receive Leaving Certificate results Mr Wallace said his advice to young people receiving their Leaving Cert results would be to remember the success achieved by so many business people and entrepreneurs who may have never attended college or completed their Leaving Cert. "It is all about numbers and it shouldn’t be.
Why not go and have a career, get an apprenticeship, become a master carpenter because you will have a rewarding career where you will be involved in the delivery of architectural masterpieces?” he said. "Those masterpieces couldn’t be built without you, always remember that the architect didn’t build it.” Mr Wallace said it has been “a joy” to be involved in RTÉ series Home of the Year alongside his fellow judges, touring some of the nation’s most beautiful properties.
“In the 1970s, the only people that came into your house was the priest or the doctor or your mother and everybody arrived on Christmas Day and that was it. The rest of the time, it was a functioning house, it was about washing, cleaning, cooking for your family,” he said. "Our homes now are an extension of our personality.
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