The housing boom and the plethora of interiors programmes on our television channels have conspired to peak the public's interest in all things design. So it is only to be expected that the demand for third-level courses in furniture design and production should also rise and this has certainly been the case at Letterfrack Furniture College in Co Galway.

Set up in 1987 through a partnership between GalwayMayo Institute of Technology and community and rural development organisation Connemara West, the college is a dedicated centre of learning for furniture design, manufacture, production technology and restoration.

Anthony Clare, programme co-ordinator and lecturer, says the college is in a transition phase arising from the Bologna agreement. Signed in 1999, this agreement provided for a 'European higher education area' and represented a move towards more standard third-level qualifications across the continent.

This has resulted in the college's two-year higher certificate programmes , , in furniture design and manufacture and furniture production and technology , , becoming three-year ordinary degrees as of this September.

Students on these courses can opt for a one-year add-on in order to graduate with an honours degree. Those who do so get a four-month industry placement early on in the fourth year. From September, the college's furniture conservation and restoration course will also be an honours degree course and Letterfrack will take in its first students on the new four-year honours teaching degree in design and technology.

The design and manufacture course aims to meet the growing demand for people with a mix of design and manufacturing skills. Some graduates work in workshops, building their skills over time to become proficient designermakers. Others take junior management positions, designing and developing market-focused prototypes.

"Up until last year, we conducted assessments of applicants, " says Clare. "That involved inviting them to the college and assessing their past work." However, because of the Bologna agreement, there will be no such assessments for students starting at the college this year. Entry will be based entirely on Leaving Cert points.

Clare says that many who come to Letterfrack have their hearts set on starting their own businesses. The fact that the courses incorporate a business element works to their advantage.

According to Clare, the career prospects for graduates have never been better.

"In the early Nineties, there were fewer students at the college because the economy couldn't support more than that at the time, " he says. "Now, you have people with large disposable incomes who are prepared to commission that special piece and they can afford to pay for it."

The college will exhibit in the two new galleries on the Farmleigh estate, Dublin, from 5 October to 5 November. Admission is free and those interested in a career in furniture design are urged to attend.

CARVING OUT A CAREER

John Lee from Maynooth, Co Kildare graduated from Letterfrack Furniture College in 1993 with a higher certi"cate in furniture design and manufacture. He then secured a work placement scholarship with top UK furniture designer/maker, Andrew Varah.

Although his initial placement was for six months, he spent "ve years working there and gained invaluable experience.

"I would not have received that experience if I hadn't gone to England, " he says. "There were a few people doing that kind of thing here at the time, but not many.

People just didn't have the money."

On returning to Ireland, Lee worked in Dublin for a few years before setting up a workshop in his home town. He has been working for himself full-time for almost two years now.

"The business has really taken off, " says Lee, who does a lot of his work for private clients. "I have done several exhibitions and will take part in another in Paris next year with the Craft Council of Ireland, which might lead to some international work."

He is very much enjoying running his own furniture design and manufacture business and believes that opting for a third-level course in the subject is a good way to get started. "It is a dream come true to be able to make a living out of something you've always wanted to do, " he says. "Furniture design and making is being treated more and more as a kind of art nowadays, although everything I make is still functional and serves a purpose."